CLEVELAND, Dec. 3 (UPI) — Results from a recent study lend promise to a new drug designed to spur nerve regeneration in the spinal cord. The drug could be used in future treatments to at least partially relieve paralysis resulting from spinal injuries.
In a recent study involving lab rats, the drug — a compound called intracellular sigma peptide (ISP) — spurred nerve growth in 80 percent of the injured animals, reactivating muscles that had been previously paralyzed. Twenty-six animals were injected with the drug; 21 of them regained movement, the ability to urinate or both.
“This recovery is unprecedented,” Jerry Silver, lead author of the study and a neuroscience professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, {link:said in a press release: “http://casemed.case.edu/newscenter/news-release/newsrelease.cfm?news_id=242″,nw}. “Each of the 21 animals got something back in terms of function. For any spinal cord-injured patient today, it would be considered extraordinary to regain even one of these functions, especially bladder function.”
The human body is capable of healing itself. And it typically does. All kinds of cells are able to regenerate. But in some instances, scar tissue becomes too thick, and new nerves aren’t able to establish the proper connections. Specifically, compounds called proteoglycans accumulate in scar tissue and block axons, or nerve fibers, from regrowing.
In healthy tissue, proteoglycans plays a pivotal role in facilitating a properly functioning nervous system. But the compounds become overabundant in post-injury scar tissue, creating a sticky web of proteins that trap and restrict the regenerative movements of nerve fiber tips, called growth cones.
The drug ISP is designed to turn off the resident neurons’ proteoglycan receptor, allowing the axons to bypass the normally stymieing wall of proteoglycans. Researchers aren’t sure if the drug worked exactly as designed, but it did encourage the sprouting of axons associated with the movement of serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical used for communication purposes by the nervous system.
While the new drug didn’t promote the regeneration of axons associated with muscle control, researchers predict the improved movement of serotonin helped the test subjects strengthen the signals still being sent through any nerve connections that remain.
“This is very promising. We now have an agent that may work alone or in combination with other treatments to improve the lives of many,” Silver said.
The study, partially funded by an NIH grant, was published Wednesday {link:in the journal Nature: “http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13974.html”,nw}.
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