Spinal cord injury research triggering an immune system response. Animal studies with injection of bone marrow stem cells have shown improvement in motor function; however not so in a human trial a year post-injury. More trials are underway. Adipose and umbilical tissue stem cells need further study before human trials can be performed, but two Korean studies were begun to investigate adipose cells in SCI patients. Transplantation of tissues such as olfactory ensheathing cells from the olfactory bulbs has been shown to produce beneficial effects in spinal cord injured rats. Trials have also begun to show success when olfactory ensheathing cells are transplanted into
Spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder characterised by loss of lower motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting, often leading to early death. The disorder is caused by a genetic defect in the "SMN1" gene, which encodes SMN, a protein widely expressed in all eukaryotic cells (that is, cells with nuclei, including human cells) and necessary for survival of motor neurons. Lower levels of the protein results in loss of function of neuronal cells in the anterior horn of the spinal cord and subsequent system-wide atrophy of skeletal muscles. Spinal muscular atrophy manifests in various