The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Headline: Discovery holds promise to restore function in people with paralysis and neurological diseases
Video:
Patient Rosemarie Rossetti: My husband Mark and I were celebrating our third wedding anniversary.
Reporter Barb Consiglio (all caps): ONE MINUTE ROSEMARIE ROSSETTI WAS ON A BIKE RIDE WITH HER HUSBAND AND THE NEXT SHE WAS PARALYZED BY A FALLING TREE THAT INJURED HER SPINAL CORD.
Patient Rosemarie Rossetti: And I looked up and I just said, I can't move my legs.
Benjamin Segal, MD: Permanent disability results from the fact that nerve cells either die or the nerve fibers that they use to transmit their signals become damaged and they do not regrow.
Reporter Barb Consiglio: IT’S THE SAME CAUSE OF DISABILITY THAT AFFECTS MILLIONS — NOT ONLY THOSE WITH SPINAL CORD INJURIES LIKE ROSEMARIE’S, BUT ALSO THOSE WITH NERVE DAMAGE CAUSED BY A STROKE OR PROGRESSIVE DISEASES LIKE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND A-L-S. THEY’RE CONDITIONS LONG THOUGHT TO BE PERMANENT, BUT DOCTOR BENJAMIN SEGAL AND HIS RESEARCH TEAM AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER ARE WORKING TO CHANGE THAT.
Benjamin Segal, MD: We are now becoming aware of a reparative arm of the immune system that can arise naturally to some extent in the aftermath of injury.
Reporter Barb Consiglio: A FEW YEARS AGO, THEY DISCOVERED A NEW TYPE OF IMMUNE CELL IN MICE THAT TRIGGERS REPAIR AND REGROWTH OF NERVE FIBERS.
Benjamin Segal, MD: They also gain the ability to produce factors that protect nerves that are damaged and help them to survive, prevent them from actually dying.
Reporter Barb Consiglio: IN THEIR LATEST RESEARCH, THEY’VE NOT ONLY CONFIRMED THAT THIS TYPE OF HEALING CELL DOES, IN FACT, EXIST WITHIN THE BONE MARROW OF HUMANS, BUT THEY WERE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY GROW NEW HEALTHY NERVE FIBERS BY REMOVING THESE CELLS AND STIMULATING THEM IN THE LAB.
Benjamin Segal, MD: The ultimate goal is to use these cells in order to actually reverse damage, in order to restore lost neurological functions.
Reporter Barb Consiglio: A COMPLETE GAMECHANGER FOR THOSE LIVING WITH THESE DEVASTATING CONDITIONS.
Patient Rosemarie Rossetti: That would be a dream come true to say, all right, you're no longer paralyzed.
Reporter Barb Consiglio: AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER, I’M BARB CONSIGLIO.