Delayed treatment of spinal cord injury may improv...( ith more branching and larger more com...)

Although most recovery was seen in animals that regrew fibers across the injury site, there was no obvious correlation between the amount of fiber regrowth in individual animals and the amount of improved function. This suggests that spinal cord circuits can respond to far fewer than the normal number of nerve fibers and that there may be changes, or plasticity, in connections above and below the point of injury that influence the amount of recovery, says Dr. Bregman.

These findings support previous animal studies showing that combination therapy with transplantation and neurotrophins is more effective than either approach by itself. While the findings are promising, much more research will be necessary before this type of therapy could be tested in humans, the researchers say. However, if the results translate to the types of spinal cord injures experienced in human patients, then the opportunity for improving function after such a devastating injury may be much greater than anyone imagined. Future studies should investigate how regeneration and activity may be combined to improve recovery, says Dr. Bregman.

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Contact: Natalie Frazin or Margo Warren
301-496-5751
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
1-Dec-2001