First surgical transplant attempted to repair myelin. (News).

If myelin-making cells could be transplanted into the central nervous system they might be able to repair damaged myelin, regenerate injured axons, and restore nerve signal conduction. Dr. Jeffery Kocsis of Yale University has been exploring such cell transplantation in rats, and he discussed this research at "Neuronal Injury in MS and Related Disorders: Mechanisms and Prevention," a Society-funded workshop held in New Orleans in March 2001 (see p. 40).

One promising prospect is Schwann cells, myelin-making cells from the peripheral nervous system (the network of nerves outside the brain and spinal cord). Kocsis published recent findings on Schwann cells in the February 1, 2001 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. He and his team took Schwann cells from adult human nerves and injected them into MS-like lesions in the spinal cords of rats. "We found that the human Schwann cells formed relatively extensive myelin and that previously obstructed nerve impulse conduction improved."

First human surgical transplant of myelin

On July 17 and 18, 2001, a Yale team, led by Dr. Timothy Vollmer, performed brain surgery on a woman with MS to transplant Schwann cells into a lesion in her brain. The cells were taken from the patient's own peripheral nervous system (specifically, the sural nerve in her ankle).

The surgery will be followed by MRIs and clinical exams, and in early 2002 the Yale investigators will biopsy her brain to see whether the cells survived and whether they made myelin.

At this time there is no way of knowing whether this potentially high-risk procedure will be safe or effective for treating MS, and any further human studies will await the outcome of this first procedure.