Specific Protein May Help Improve Mobility After Spinal Cord Injury

Researchers note in a recent study that a protein called IL-37 may play a role in helping to improve mobility after a spinal cord injury.

According to the study, IL-37 may help suppress the inflammatory response after a spinal cord injury and minimize spinal tissue degeneration and functional disabilities.

In the study, Rubén Lopéz from the Universitat Autonoma De Barcelona’s (UAB) Department of Cell Biology, Physiology, and Immunology, and his team used a genetically modified mouse that produces the human form of IL-37 to study the function of this protein.

The team suggests in their study that if IL-37 is administered immediately after the injury, the mice recover a certain degree of mobility, explains a media release from UAB.

The study was published recently online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[Source(s): Universitat Autonoma De Barcelona, EurekAlert]