Pilot study: bone marrow stem cells as a treatment for dogs with chronic spinal cord injury

BACKGROUND: Chronic Spinal Cord injury is a common, severe, and medically untreatable disease. Since the functional outcomes of acute and experimental chronic spinal cord injury have been shown to improve with stem cell therapy, a case study was conducted to test if the application of stem cell also regenerates chronic SCI dysfunction. Transplantation of foetal bone marrow stem cells was applied in seven dogs with chronic spinal cord injury. Magnetic resonance images and assessments of symptoms according to the Olby scale were used to diagnose the severity of injury. RESULT: All dogs improved locomotor and sensory function when examined 90 days after surgery, and showed increased movement of the hind limbs, and were able to stand upright, as well as to take small steps. Tail tone was observed in seven dogs, pain reflexes and defecation return were observed in five dogs. CONCLUSION: The transplantation of bone marrow stem may be a promising, reliable and safe treatment for chronic spinal cord injury. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2050-490X-2-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.