A procedure involving nasal cells may offer a novel, but successful, way to treat spinal cord injury.
Cells from inside your nose may help treat spinal cord injury, an international study published in PLOS Biology has found.
Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) usually break down unwanted materials and bacteria, helping grow and mend the nervous system.
Researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre and Charité Universtaetsmedizin Berlin reviewed more than 60 studies and found that OEC transplants into injured spinal cords could be a promising treatment – OECs have shown both neuro-protective and neuro-regeneration capacity.
As they can be extracted from the patient’s own nasal cavity, the risk of graft rejection and the need for immunosuppressants are minimised.