Intravenous injection of bone marrow-derived stem cells (MSCs) in patients with spinal cord injuries led to a significant improvement in motor function, researchers from Yale University and Japan reported. on February 18 in the Journal of Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery.
The researchers reported that for more than half of the patients, substantial improvements in key functions were observed, such as the ability to walk or use their hands. No substantial side effects were reported.
Patients had non-penetrating spinal cord injuries, in many cases from minor falls or trauma, several weeks before stem cell implantation. Symptoms consisted of loss of motor function and coordination, sensory loss, and intestinal and bladder dysfunction. Stem cells were prepared from the patients’ own bone marrow, using a culture protocol that took a few weeks at a specialized cell processing center. Cells were injected intravenously into this series, and each patient served as their own control. The results were not blinded and there were no placebo controls.
Yale scientists Jeffery D. Kocsis, professor of neurology and neuroscience, and Stephen G. Waxman, professor of neurology, neuroscience, and pharmacology, were the lead authors of the study, which was conducted with researchers from the Sapporo Medical University, Japan. Key researchers on the Sapporo team, Osamu Honmou and Masanori Sasaki, both hold associate professorships in neurology at Yale.
Kocsis and Waxman stress that further studies will be needed to confirm the results of this blinded preliminary trial. They also stress that this can take years. Despite the challenges, they remain optimistic.
“Similar stem cell results in stroke patients increase our confidence that this approach may be clinically useful, ”said Kocsis. “This clinical study is the culmination of extensive preclinical laboratory work using MSCs between Yale and Sapporo colleagues for many years.”
“The idea that we could restore function after a brain and spinal cord injury using the patient’s own stem cells has fascinated us for years, “said Waxman.” Now, in humans, we have a clue that it may be possible “.