Source: Case Western Reserve University
Date: May 20, 2012
Summary:
CLEVELAND - A substance in human mesenchymal stem cells that promotes growth appears to spur restoration of nerves and their function in rodent models of multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found. Their study is embargoed until published in the online version of Nature Neuroscience at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, May 20. In animals injected with hepatocyte growth factor, inflammation declined and neural cells grew. Perhaps most important, the myelin sheath, which protects nerves and their ability to gather and send information, regrew, covering lesions caused by the disease. The research is published in the current issue of Nature Neuroscience.
In this study, the researchers first wanted to test whether the presence of stem cells or something cells produce promotes recovery. They injected mice with the medium in which mesenchymal stem cells, culled from bone marrow, grew. All 11 animals, which have a version of MS, showed a rapid reduction in functional deficits.
