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Researchers Bring New Hope To Paralyzed Patients
CU Doctors Reveal Spinal Cord Technology
Jennie Castor, 7NEWS Video Journalist
POSTED: 11:44 am MDT May 5, 2008
AURORA, Colo. -- The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus is abuzz with activity.
Researchers there are working on two new technologies for repairing the injured spinal cord.
Dr. Stephen Davies leads a group of seven scientists working in the neurosurgery laboratory.
He recently arrived in Colorado after being lured from Baylor University to do his research in Colorado.
A tour of the lab reveals researchers peering into microscopes and preparing slides for testing.
They have found what Davies calls two major breakthroughs.
"We've been looking at ways of suppressing scar formation and also ways of replacing lost support cells, particularly astrocytes," said Davies.
When an injury severs the spinal cord, scar tissue forms in the area and prevents the nerves from reconnecting. This is what causes paralysis in many patients.
The first of Davies’ discoveries was that of a molecule called Decorin.
"Decorin is a naturally occurring molecule in the spinal cord that suppresses scar formation. We were able to make pharmaceutical grade Decorin and infuse it into spinal cord injury rats and suppress the scar by up to 90 percent, which allowed the nerve fibers to cross the injury in just 4 days," said Davies.
This means scientists can now control scar formation to allow the severed nerves to regrow at the injury site.
Davies’ second discovery is the identification of the best cell to form a bridge at the injury site. The right kind of Astrocyte, or star cell, appears to do that at impressive rates.
“We put them into spinal cord injuries and we saw up to 40 percent efficiency of nerve fiber regeneration across the injury in just eight days. This is actually the new record for regeneration in the spinal cord. Previously, it was 5 percent in three months,” said Davies.
These discoveries are raising hopes and a few eyebrows.
“Again we've heard a whole bunch of things so I don’t get overly excited, but you just raise an eyebrow and say, alright let's see what happens there,” said Jason Regier of Denver.
Regier was in an automobile accident 11 and a half years ago and has been in a wheelchair ever since.
He’s willing to consider new technologies, but will tell you that he has moved on with his life. Being in a wheelchair does not define him, he says.
He’s currently training for a trip to Beijing, China. In September, he will compete in the Paralympics as a member of the USA Wheelchair Rugby Team.
“I would love a cure. I would love to walk again but there are things I want to achieve and a lot of it doesn't depend with me having a spinal cord injury. Its part of me, it’s not all of me,” said Regier.
But, he says Davies’ theories may be the future.
“Right now, I currently have 10 percent use of my body. So, if I got another 20 percent back, I'd be ecstatic! If I can use my hands or if I get stronger, anything would help,” said Regier.
These technologies may move into the human clinical trial phase within the next three years. Colorado patients with new and existing spine injuries could benefit.
And, there’s more. Davies and his team at UC Denver have made an unexpected discovery.
These technologies may be useful for helping traumatic brain injuries including stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other degenerative diseases of the central nervous system.
For further information about Davies’ spinal cord injury research and how to help fund translation of these new technologies to clinical trials, please visit CU Neurosurgery and Care Cure Community.
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=32