Updates on MS, stroke, spinal cord injury and more

New research in the area of regenerative medicine is coming out regularly. Here are some recent examples:

• Researchers in Toronto and Saskatchewan are looking at cells found in human skin, inside the nose and in the spinal cord as autologous sources of myelinating cells to treat multiple sclerosis.

• A UK company called ReNeuron is starting clinical trials in Glasgow, Scotland to treat stroke. They will give patients using a therapeutic dose (about 20 millions cells) of genetically-modified human embryonic stem cells. These cells will “activate repair pathways” to stimulate new blood vessels and brain cells.

• Researchers in Colorado and New York are developing an approach to treating spinal cord injury, focusing on astrocytes. Astrocytes are important in generating nerve fibre growth in early development of the nervous system. By manipulating different growth factors researchers have had dramatic outcomes when they injected these cells into the injured spinal cords of rats. This approach is now being developed for clinical trials.

Read more about current research in the updated disease sections in the For Patients section on the Stem Cell Network website. Information has been added for eye disease, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Parkinson’s. There are also new supplemental resource links for many of the areas.