New drug shows potential for treating spinal cord injuries

US scientists have devised a new injectable drug therapy that could help spinal cord injury patients to recover.

Conducted with funding support from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, the research aimed to devise a means of helping axons to regenerate without having to touch the healing spinal cord.

After spinal cord injury, axons try to cross the injury site and reconnect with other cells, but are prevented by scarring that forms after the injury. The team therefore designed a drug called ISP to block a key enzyme and facilitate its entry into the brain and spinal cord.

Research involving rats that received the drug showed the animals experienced improvements in walking and urinating, while placebo treatments had no effect.

Dr Lyn Jakeman, a programme director at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said: "There are currently no drug therapies available that improve the very limited natural recovery from spinal cord injuries that patients experience. This is a great step towards identifying a novel agent for helping people recover."

Currently, spinal cord injuries can lead to lifelong paralysis, but innovations such as this could change this in the medium-term future.