Injecting human CNS-derived stromal cells into rats with spinal cord injury (SCI) may help suppress inflammation, and improve blood vessel function, following an SCI.

The study, conducted by Michael Fehlings, MD, PhD, and his research team, from Krembil Research Institute in Toronto Western Hospital and the University at Toronto, was published recently in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine.

In their study, Fehlings and his team compared the results from injecting central nervous system (CNS)-derived stromal cells into SCI-injured rats to a control group of SCI-injured rats that were transplanted with mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs).

According to a media release from AlphaMed Press, this study suggests that a brain-derived stromal cell is better suited to target the acute phase of SCI than cells derived from other tissue sources.

“Our study demonstrates that these cells not only display a MSC phenotype in a dish, but also have similar immunomodulatory effects in animals after spinal cord injury that are more potent than those of non-central nervous system tissue-derived cells. Therefore, these cells are of interest for therapeutic use in acute spinal cord injury,” Fehlings says in the release.

“These early effects further translated into enhanced functional recovery and tissue sparing 10 weeks after SCI. This work demonstrates a new therapeutic approach,” he adds.

[Source(s): AlphaMed Press, PRWeb]