Originally posted by Dr. Wise Young on the Care/Cure forum
Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) are of particular interest because of their ability to facilitate regeneration and remyelination of the spinal cord. Reported about four years ago to improve neurological recovery in animals, OEG are being transplanted in three clinical trials being carried out in Beijing, Lisbon, and Brisbane. OEG originate from the lamina propia of the nasal mucosa, migrate up the olfactory nerve, and take up residence in the olfactory bulb. They are believed to be the reason why the olfactory nerve is the only central nervous system structure continuously regenerates in adults. OEG cells take three forms in culture. The bipolar form appears to be the migrating structure. The multipolar form appears to guide axons and express L1, laminin, and other cell adhesion molecules that are attractive to axons. The fried egg form may be the ensheathing form. Note that OEG cells express nestin (a primitive filament that is often seen in neural stem cells) and GFAP (a filament that is present in glial cells). They also express P75 (the low affinity neurotrophin receptor). Transplanted into the spinal cord, cells generally have a bipolar form but often can be seen myelinating axons like Schwann cells.
Hungyun Huang and colleagues recently published a paper in the Chinese Medical Journal (2003, 116:1488-91) reporting the neurological results on the first 171 patients into whom they transplanted olfactory ensheathing glial (OEG). The patients ranged from 2 to 64 years of age, were mostly male (139, female 32), and were 6 months to 18 years after injury (average 2 years after injury). The cells were cultured from olfactory bulb of aborted human fetuses. The spinal cord above and below the injury site was exposed by laminectomy. Approximately a half million cells were injected into each of two sites, above and below the injury. Improvement was shown in the motor score, touch score, and pinprick score in the patients at 4-6 weeks after transplantation for each age group. Approximately 71% of the patients were ASIA A (complete spinal cord injury). There was no significant difference of recovery between the age groups.