Cells' transplantation, nerve bridge may help paralyzed patient in recovery

In a recent case, doctors performed transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells isolated from a paralyzed patient's own olfactory bulb and built a nerve bridge between stumps of damaged spinal cord, which may have helped the patient recover some function.

Doctors in Poland and scientists from England may have restored some function and sensory sensation to a 38 year-old man who had sustained a traumatic transection (severing) of the spinal cord in the upper vertabral level Th9. By removing one of his olfactory bulbs, where the sense of smell resides, and transplanting his own olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) and olfactory nerve fibroblasts (ONFs) into the damaged area along with a nerve "bridge" constructed between the two stumps of the damage spinal column, they have seen some voluntary limb function and sensation recovery over a 19 month follow-up.

Dr. Pawel Tabakow from Wroclaw Medical University said that after OEC transplantation and the building of the nerve bridge, the patient improved from ASIA A to ASIA C. Prior to the transplantation, they had estimated that without this treatment, the patient's recovery chances were less than one percent. However, they observed a gradual recovery of both sensory and motor function that began four months after the surgery.

OECs are a type of cell that resides in both the peripheral and central nervous system. Together with ONFs, they make bundles of nerve fibers that run from the nasal mucosa to the olfactory bulb where the sense of smell is located. The technique of bridging the sectional spinal cord using autologous (derived from the patient) sural nerve grafts has been used in animal studies for three decades, but never in combination with OECs, commented the doctors.

Dr. Geoffrey Raisman added that the OECs and the ONFs appeared to work together, but the mechanism between their interaction was still unclear.

The doctors noted that further laboratory studies would be needed to better understand the interactive properties between the human OECs and ONFs within the nerve bridge.

The study is due to be published in Cell Transplantation.