Nerve Regeneration restores bladder function in rats

Technique to Promote Nerve Regeneration After Spinal Cord Injury Restores Bladder Function in Rats

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130625172339.htm

Using a novel technique to promote the regeneration of nerve cells across the site of severe spinal cord injury, researchers have restored bladder function in paralyzed adult rats, according to a study in the June 26 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings may guide future efforts to restore other functions lost after spinal cord injury. It also raises hope that similar strategies could one day be used to restore bladder function in people with severe spinal cord injuries.

For decades, scientists have experimented with using nerve grafts as a way of bridging the spinal cord injury site in an attempt to recover lost function following spinal cord injury. However, coaxing these cells to grow and form connections capable of relaying nerve signals has been elusive. In the current study, Yu–Shang Lee, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic, together with Jerry Silver, PhD, of Case Western Reserve Medical School, and others, used a chemical that promotes cell growth along with a scar–busting enzyme to create a more hospitable environment for the nerve graft at the injury site.

“Although animals did not regain the ability to walk, they did recover a remarkable measure of urinary control,” Silver explained. This basic function is one that many spinal cord injury patients rank as one of the most important to regain following injury. “This is the first time that significant bladder function has been restored via nerve regeneration after a devastating cord injury,” Lee added.

When a spinal cord injury takes place, extensions of nerve cells from the brainstem –– the region of the brain where the command and coordination for urination takes place –– become disconnected from cells in the spinal cord that control the muscles that squeeze or relax the bladder and open and close the urethra. The body’s natural response to form a scar at the injury site reduces the spread of inflammation but deters the growth of severed nerve fibers. With no way for the cells between the brain stem and spinal cord to regenerate or reconnect, the injury often results in the permanent inability to empty the bladder.

This is a huge breakthrough in the area of spinal injuries. One of the most undignified aspects of spinal cord injuries is not being able to control bladder function. This breakthrough could lead to human treatment and gives hope to those who have suffered spinal injuries.

The research team used an enzyme called chondriotinase to disrupt scar formation in combination with a chemical called fibroblast growth factor used to promote cell survival. The team reported that after three and six months, the rats who had been treated had a ‘significant return of bladder function’ There was also regrowth of some brainstem cells over the injury area. The study showed that nerve cells can regrow – once a suitable environment has been created.

However, there is still a long way to go – ‘Elizabeth Bradbury, PhD, a spinal cord injury researcher at King’s College London who was not involved with this study, cautioned that several challenges must be overcome before this type of therapy could be tested in people’. However she believes that ‘this remarkable advance offers great hope for the future of restoring bladder function to spinal cord injury patients’.

This may well be in the early stages in tests upon rats, but the findings are greatly encouraging. This line of research could greatly benefit those who have had spinal cord injuries, it would allow them to recover some dignity. Who knows, this line of thought could yield astonishing results over the next twenty years.

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