New possibilities of gene therapy in the treatment of paralysis
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Needless to say, what a person who has just been diagnosed with paralysis of the limbs feels. Almost everyone knows that with a damaged nerve to restore motor or sensory ability is very difficult, and sometimes impossible. Scientists are encouraged: the picture may soon change for the better.
Specialists representing the Royal College of London and the Netherlands University of Neural Sciences were able to restore the possibility of movement to laboratory animals with complete paralysis of the forelimbs.
In the overwhelming majority of cases with lesions of spinal structures or neuroproductive tracts, the main difficulty in restoring the functionality lies in the formation of scar tissue on the damaged site. In general, the formation of the scar itself is a normal phenomenon, which serves as a protective response of the body. But in some cases this reaction becomes superfluous: for example, if the nerve trunk is damaged, the scar is formed much faster than the fusion of the nervous tissue.
To date, the main curative effect in paralysis is the excision of scar tissue and prevention of scar formation. But such treatment is not possible in all cases.
As described in the pages of the publication Brain, during the new study, scientists made attempts to "dissolve" cicatricial accretions, while simultaneously exercising control over the process of scar formation. To accomplish this, specialists had to force surrounding cellular structures to produce chondroitinase, a specific enzyme capable of destroying the scar tissue, without disturbing the quality of the nerve tissue. Surprisingly, the assistant to the work was a well-known antibacterial drug Doxycycline. Scientists have noticed: if you remove the drug or stop its effect, then all cicatricial accretions were resumed.
After eight weeks of treatment, laboratory animals were able to fully restore the functionality of the forelegs. One of the study's lead investigators, Professor Emily Burnside, says: "At the end of the treatment, rodents could already crawl and take sugar with their front paws. We also recorded an increase in activity of spinal structures. Therefore, we tend to believe that nerve cell networks have formed new connecting paths. "
Researchers did not dwell on these results: they developed a technique for initiating the production of chondroitinase at the level of genetics. A kind of "genetic knife switch" was created.
"We will be able to establish control over the duration of treatment, to choose the optimal period of exposure, which is necessary for regeneration. Gene therapy will help to cure, in particular, serious injuries with damage to the spinal structures - and this may require just one injection of the drug. Upon completion of the restoration, another injection will be made - to turn off the gene. "
Of course, without the spoon tar was not wasted: the scientists have not yet received permission to conduct a large-scale clinical trial in patients with paralysis patients. Therefore, it is necessary to wait for the approval of higher scientific bodies, to undergo a number of checks, and only after that it will be possible to declare the possibility of introducing a new method into clinical practice.
The information is published on the pages of the journal Brain.
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