Spinal cord injuries

Commonly prescribed antibiotic could be used to prevent paralysis and spinal injury.

Researchers have found that a commonly prescribed antibiotic could be used to help prevent paralysis and other long-term functional deficits associated with a partial spinal cord injury (SCI).

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Children's Hospital Boston (CHB) reveals that administering the antibiotic, minocycline, to rats within the first hour after a paralyzing injury has been shown to reduce tissue loss and ultimately enable more hind-leg function.

It also enables the patient to walk with more coordination, better foot posture and stepping, and better support of body weight than untreated controls.

The BWH/CHB researchers found that minocycline reduces later-stage tissue loss by blocking release of a protein known as mitochondrial cytochrome c.

Dr Yang D Teng of the joint BWH/CHB neurosurgery program and co-lead author of the study, notes that other experimental agents can prevent later-stage tissue loss, but must be given immediately after or even before SCI to be effective.

"These research results are exciting in that they demonstrate a novel post-trauma strategy in the form of a safe, FDA-approved drug that could serve as a prototype drug for developing better therapeutic strategies to improve quality of life for people suffering from spinal cord injuries," said Teng.