[과학을읽다]Paraplegic patients can walk again

Research results of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Through electrical stimulation therapy without any sensation
All 9 patients were able to walk after 5 months of treatment

[아시아경제 김봉수 기자] Scientists have confirmed that even if nerve cells have completely lost their function due to a spinal cord injury, they can be restored through electrical stimulation.

On the 9th (local time) a research group of the Federal Polytechnic of Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland published an article containing the experimental results in the international scientific journal Nature. They conducted the experiment on a total of nine patients. Due to a lumbar spinal cord injury, they completely lost motor ability in their legs and had no sensation whatsoever. However, after implanting electrodes in the spinal cord for 5 months, these patients successfully regained their ability to walk after receiving epidural electrical stimulation (ESS), which is a treatment that provides electrical stimulation to the lower spinal nerves and training of muscle strengthening. Notably, four of them showed remarkable results to the extent that they were able to walk alone without receiving more ESS.

“These experimental results suggest that electrical stimulation can trigger remodeling of the spinal nerves, thereby reactivating the motor network,” explains Nature. Professor Mark Ruitenberg, professor of neuroscience at the University of Queensland in Australia, who led the research team, said:

The research team also confirmed that there are nerve cells that are presumed to be responsible for the recovery of motor skills. We got a clue that when the ESS was activated, the activity of the nerve cells in the stimulated area decreased. After researching using animal experiments and deep learning techniques, the research team identified ‘excitatory interneurons’, which are neurons that connect motor neurons and sensory neurons. When the team removed these cells from mice with spinal cord injuries, the ESS treatment was no longer effective. In other words, it has been confirmed that this cell plays a certain role in restoring the function of motor and sensory neurons that have received electrical stimulation. Of course, this is just an animal test, but scientists analyze that it will be the same for humans. “The structure of the spinal cord is very similar in vertebrates, including humans and mice,” said Ayman Azim Salk, a researcher at the Institute of Biological Sciences.

Previously, the research team announced the results of a study in 2018 and earlier this year that they managed to restore walking ability in the same way in paraplegic patients. However, at the time, it was the result of an experiment on patients who still had some sensation in their legs: it means to be successful.

By Kim Bong-soo, staff reporter [email protected]