The olfactory ensheathing cell is a specialized glial cell that assists in growth of the axons of
the olfactory sensory neurons as they are generated and regenerated throughout adult life. There is
increasing evidence in animal models that transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cell promotes
recovery after transplantation into the injured spinal cord. Olfactory ensheathing cell transplants have
promoted regrowth of axons across the injury site and led to recovery of functional behaviours
including climbing, walking, reaching, and breathing. Most evidence comes from olfactory ensheathing
cells derived from the olfactory bulb. This is an impractical site for human biopsy compared to the easy
accessibility of olfactory ensheathing cells from the olfactory mucosa in the nose. Our experiments
demonstrated that nasal olfactory ensheathing cells led to functional improvement after complete spinal
cord transaction in rat. After devising methods to grow human olfactory ensheathing cells from
nasal biopsy we recently initiated a Phase I clinical trial of transplantation into the human paraplegic
spinal cord. |