Astrocyte cells 'repair spinal injury'RSS Feed

Scientists have discovered a specific type of human cell which could revolutionise the treatment of spinal injury.

Research, published in journal PloS ONE, investigated the potential application of human astrocytes - major support cells in the central nervous system - in spinal injury therapies.

When transplanted into paralysed rats, the human astrocytes were found to repair the nervous system extremely quickly and enable the animals to walk again.

Lead author Chris Proschel, of the University of Rochester, said: "What's really striking is the robustness of the effect. Scientists have claimed repair of spinal cord injuries in rats before, but the benefits have been variable and rarely as strong as what we've seen with our transplants."

This comes after news that researchers from the University of Leeds and the University of Bristol have been developing new treatments for chronic spinal injury using human skeletons dating as far back as 100 years.

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Posted by Paul Breen
 

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