Nerve cells derived from multi -capacity -induced stem cells have the ability to reflect paralysis.Credit: Ikelos GmbH/Dr. Christopher B. Jackson/S.
A paralyzed man can stand alone after receiving an injection of neurons to treat spinal cord infection. The Japanese man was one of the four individuals in the first of its kind, which used repetitive stem cells to treat people with complete paralysis.
Another man can now move his arms and legs after treatment, but the other two did not show significant improvements. The trial was managed by Hideyuki Okano, the stem cell scientist at Que University in Tokyo, and his colleagues.
The researchers say that the results, which were announced at a press conference on March 21 and have not yet been reviewed, indicate that the treatment is safe.
“This is a great positive result,” says James Saint John, a neuroscientist at Griffith University at Gold Coast.
Previous experiments that use other types of stem cells have shown that treatment is safe, but has so far shown mixed results. “Nothing really works yet,” says St. John.
More experiments will be needed to determine whether the improvements that were observed in the two people in the current study were the result of treatment. Saint John says patients can suffer from normal recovery.
In 2019, about 0.9 million people in the world suffered from spinal cord injury, and about 20 million people lived with this situation1.
Recreen cells
The multi -capacity stem cells that have been repaired or induced are created by returning the adult cells to a fetus -like condition, which can be persuaded by developing to other cells.
In this experiment, the IPS cells derived from a donor were used to create neuromus cells. Two million of them were injected into the site of each patient, hoping that it will eventually develop into neurons and glial cells.
The first experiment was performed in December 2021; The other three conducted between 2022 and 2023. All the four beneficiaries were adults and two of the ages of 60 years or older. Ocano says he underwent surgery between two and four weeks after damage. The beneficiaries have given immunity to prevent their bodies from attacking cells for six months after surgery.
The results are the latest in a series of small human experiences that test the capabilities of IPS cells to regenerate tissues and treat the disease.
Learn to walk
In one year follow -up, researchers have not noticed any serious harmful effects.
All individuals began the trial with the highest classification of A to A, as it was measured by the scale of the weakness of the American Spine Cyber Association (AIS). People who suffer from this level of weakness have no sensory or motor function under the point of injury. Two participants did not show improvements in their ability to feel or move in the lowest part of the spinal cord. One individual moved to the Class C in the period after the surgery, and he can move some of the muscles of his arm and leg, but he could not stand alone. Another individual is improved to the D -level (the regular function is classified as E) and can stand independently. “This person is now training in walking,” says Okano. “This is a dramatic recovery.”
Ocano says the initial data analysis indicates that the treatment works.