Injecting stem cells derived from the patient’s bone marrow significantly improves the motor functions of patients with spinal cord injury.
According to the report of Biotechnology of Stem Cells and quoted by ScienceDaily, spinal cord injury caused by trauma is one of the main causes of motor disability in developed countries, which requires the investigation of more effective treatment options to restore the functions of patients due to the limitations of current treatments.
In a phase 2 clinical trial study, a group of researchers from Yale University investigated the effect of intravenous injection of autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) on improving motor functions in 13 patients with spinal cord injury. In more than half of the patients, significant improvements in the patient’s main functions, such as the ability to walk or use their hands, were observed within a few weeks of the stem cell injection. Also, no side effects related to the cell injection were reported in the patients. The exact mechanism by which mesenchymal stem cells improve neurological status in patients is not known, but studies in animal models suggest that neurotrophic factors secreted by MSCs, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), may be involved in symptom improvement. The results of this study were published in the journal Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery in February 2021.
