Human menstrual blood cells restore neuron functionality in spinal cord injury.

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Researchers have found out that stem cells derived from the human menstrual blood restore spinal cord functionality after spinal cord injuries. These findings have been published by the journal “Cell Death and Disease, 29 August 2018.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the damage to any part of the spinal cord or the nerves or the nerves at the end of the spinal canal, resulting in temporary or permanent alterations to its functionality. The damages may be brought about by violence, falls, diseases and motor vehicle accidents which result in the crushing of the spinal cord or dislocation of the vertebrae. More damage can develop later due to bleeding and inflammation. Spinal cord injuries can result in loss of sensation, inability to walk or paralysis due to damaged sensory neurons and nerve fibers. Treatment of SCI’s is mostly based on rehabilitation procedures, medical devices, and steroidal drugs. Researchers and medical experts continue to seek more effective treatment alternatives for SCI patients, with stem cells and regenerative medicine gaining popularity due to the promising results.

In this article, a group of researchers including Chuanming Dong of the Nantong University in China have shed light on the use of stem cells derived from menstrual blood in treating spinal cord injuries. They isolated mesenchymal stem cells from healthy volunteers. These cells were treated with human MSC osteogenic differentiation medium to induce differentiation into osteoblast and adipocytes. The researchers then transplanted the mesenchymal stem cell suspension on spinal cord injured rats caused by T10 spinal hemisection, a surgical procedure whereby 2mm of the spinal cord was cut out.

The study found out that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from the human menstrual blood reinstated the functionality of the spinal cord. The hind limb motor function was greatly improved compared to the control. The study also found out that treatment by mesenchymal stem cells resulted in reduced cavity formation in lesion sites. Molecular analysis showed that the treatment inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors, TNF-α and IL-1β. These findings have shown that human blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells have potential therapeutic use in the treatment of spinal cord injuries hence need further research exploration.

Read full paper here: https://rdcu.be/5rSU

Rights and Permissions: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Journal Article Reference: 

Wu Q, Wang Q, Li Z, Li X, Zang J ,Wang Z ,Xu C ,Gong Y, Cheng J, Li H, Shen G and Dong C. Human menstrual blood-derived stem cells promote functional recovery in a rat spinal cord hemisection model. Cell Death and Disease (2018) 9:882. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-018-0847-8