動物実験と臨床までの距離、諦めないことが未来を繋ぐ

Today's topic in BBC is that the rat injured leg recovered this waking ability because of reconnecting to the spinal cord.

This is published in Science journal.
The researchers injured the rat leg by the chemical and these rats lost the ability of walking. In this rat, the connection between brain and leg was dissociated, so usually we supposed that the rat was losing the walking function if we didn't give the surgical treatment to it.
However, when the researcher stimulate the electrical signal to its leg, the rat recover the walking function, and it could walk the stairs and run.

The rat is the primitive and strong animal. This result wouldn't indicate the opportunity of the reconstruction of human injury. However, if we are believing this result and don't give up the research, the hopeful future would come.

Paralysed rats 'learn to walk'

Paralysed rats have been able to walk again after their spinal cords were bathed in chemicals and zapped with electricity, scientists have shown.

An injury to the spinal cord stops the brain controlling the body.

The study, in the journal Science, showed injured rats could even learn to sprint with spinal stimulation.

Experts said it was an "exceptional study" and that restoring function after paralysis "can no longer be dismissed as a pipedream".

In 2011, a man from Oregon in the US was able to stand up again while his spinal cord was stimulated with electricity. Rob Summers had been paralysed from the chest down after being hit by a car.

Now researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) say they have restored far more movement in rats which became able to run and climb stairs.

Paralysed rats 'learn to walk' - BBC News

Restoring Voluntary Control of Locomotion after Paralyzing Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Half of human spinal cord injuries lead to chronic paralysis. Here, we introduce an electrochemical neuroprosthesis and a robotic postural interface designed to encourage supraspinally mediated movements in rats with paralyzing lesions. Despite the interruption of direct supraspinal pathways, the cortex regained the capacity to transform contextual information into task-specific commands to execute refined locomotion. This recovery relied on the extensive remodeling of cortical projections, including the formation of brainstem and intraspinal relays that restored qualitative control over electrochemically enabled lumbosacral circuitries. Automated treadmill-restricted training, which did not engage cortical neurons, failed to promote translesional plasticity and recovery. By encouraging active participation under functional states, our training paradigm triggered a cortex-dependent recovery that may improve function after similar injuries in humans.

Restoring Voluntary Control of Locomotion after Paralyzing Spinal Cord Injury | Science