Spinal cord injury repaired with neural stem cellsRSS Feed

Patients with a spinal cord injury may see treatment improving after scientists in Japan made a breakthrough with neural stem cells (NSCs).

The team, led by Kinchi Nakashima at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, transplanted NSCs into mice with severe spinal cord injuries and valproic acid, a drug used in the treatment of epilepsy, was administered

It was the addition of the valproic acid that stimulated the NSCs to generate nerve cells, as opposed to other brain cells.

The researchers found that the combination therapy resulted in "impressive restoration of hind leg function".

It is hoped that this kind of therapy, by using something such as valproic acid to stimulate nerve cell growth could be used to treat humans with a severe spinal injury.

The research comes after Japanese scientists successfully treated mice with spinal cord injuries by using induce pluripotent stem cells.

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Posted by Timothy Walters

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