Mesenchymal Stem cell therapy (MSC) for spinal injuries

More than one million people suffer from spinal cord injuries every year from the whole world. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy (MSC) could be the answer for those patients. The research was conducted by a team of doctors at Bangalore situated in India which showed some promising results. In the pilot study, MSCs were injected directly into the spinal cord of the patient for maximum efficacy. It was injected either intra-arterially or through intra-spinal (site of injury) route. This technique of injecting of stem cells close to the site of injury showed good results.

Traditionally, stem cells have always been injected either through intravenous drips or through lumber puncture directly into the cerebo-spinal fluid. But when injected in this way, the stem cells float around the body or in the blood stream. Very few of them reach the target. Moreover, in case of spinal cord injuries, the adjoining tissues let out a signal called cytobine signals, which attract stem cells from other parts of body to heal the injury. But in case of an old injury, these signals are not let out anymore. Therefore, the stem cells that are injected in the body through the tradition method may not get attracted to the injury at all. This MSC therapy takes care of all this. Here, MSCs are injected directly into the injury for maximum effect. These can create tissues or cartilage or bones as required by the injury and repair it.

So what are MSCs? Stem cells, or master cells as they are popularly known as, are cells that can divide and produce copies of themselves and other types of cells. Doctors are using them to treat complex problems like Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, end-stage liver diseases. While we are familiar with embryonic stem cells drawn from the umbilical cord, there are many other types of stem cells. MSCs are found in the bone marrow. They can be derived into a variety of cells in the laboratory, including the fat cells, cartilage, bone, tendons and ligaments, muscles cells, skin cells and even nerve cells. In fact, scientists can even grow these cells in culture. Experts say, unlike most other human adult stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells can be obtained in quantities appropriate for clinical applications, making them good candidates for use in tissue repair. Since the techniques for isolation and amplification of these stem cells in culture have been established, the cells can be maintained and propagated in culture for long periods of time without losing their capacity to form all the above cell types.

What’s more, MSCs can retain the introduced genes. So doctors can make use of this trait to deliver good molecules to targeted locations.

They can even be frozen and preserved, and when they are thawed, they function normally, thus allowing to be used for future development in the therapy.

This therapy provides a hope to the people suffering form spinal cord that has tried so many other techniques to become well but hasn’t worked any of them.