Using a somewhat controversial stem cell therapy, a joint team of Japanese and American researchers successfully recovered in 13 patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI).
SCIs can often cause permanent loss of movement and physical sensation due to nerve damage. Although physical rehabilitation programs may partially improve outcomes, the actual treatment and recovery of lost mobility and function is nearly impossible. Until now, maybe.
According to new results from a Phase 2 clinical trial conducted in an experimental collaboration by scientists in Japan and the USA, patients treated with an intravenous infusion of their own mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) harvested from their bone marrow , significant functional improvements seen.
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MSCs are mature stem cells with the strange ability to transform into different cell types, giving them the ability to repair different tissues in the human body, ranging from bone and cartilage to muscle or other tissues.
In 2018, Japan quickly tracked down the commercial approval of the treatment and decided to abandon the full testing and approval of the regulations, despite the lack of complete data on its safety and effectiveness. This was to the great dismay of the medical industry in general and caused considerable controversy in the process.
To move forward quickly and the treatment, called Stemirac, can be revolutionary in the treatment of non-penetrating SCIs, in which the spinal cord is damaged but remains intact.
In the trials, all 13 patients showed improvements in sensory and motor functions six months after receiving their infusion, while more than 50 percent of the participants saw significant improvements in motor function, including walking within a day, although it lasted for other weeks.
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“The idea that we could possibly restore function after a lesion to the brain and spinal cord using the patient’s own stem cells has interested us for years,” explains neurologist Stephen Waxman of Yale University, a senior author of the study.
“Now we have a hint from people that it might be possible.”
Other research has investigated the efficacy of injected MSCs to treat SCI, but this new method involves intravenous infusion, which works differently and has so far had no adverse effects. Nevertheless, the researchers acknowledge the limited scope of the trial, as well as the fact that it was unblinded and uncontrolled.
“It is important that MSCs administered intravenously can not only affect the injury site but also other parts of the central nervous system, including brain and blood vessels,” explain the authors in their paper.
For now, they suspect that the stem cells secrete neural growth factors, especially brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which has a restorative as well as anti-inflammatory effect. Although much more research is needed to determine the long-term safety and effectiveness of treatment, it may one day be revolutionary.
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