Current Status of Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Regeneration

Many attempts in the last fifteen years have been made to find a method for enhancing spinal cord regeneration after injury. These include use of embryonic or adult stem cells, Schwann cells, genetically modified fibroblast, bone stromal cells, and olfactory unsheathing cells. Out of all the types of cells, a recent study (Sobani ZA, et al. 2010) showed that olfactory unsheathing cells seem to be the most promising, followed by bone marrow stromal cells. However, in the United States direct transplantation of these cells for spinal cord regeneration is not yet out of the experimental stage.

A human trial carried out in Australia had cultured olfactory unsheathing cells transplanted into the spinal cords of six patients with paraplegia. No improvement was noted. However, a quadriplegia patient who was operated on 13 days after a quadriplegia break at C4-5 using cultured bone marrow stomal cells showed gradual improvement in six months following the surgery.