Spine damage research may improve debilitating conditions treatments

A research team led by Riyi Shi has found that a chemical called acrolein, a known carcinogen, is present at high levels in spinal tissue for several days after a traumatic injury.

Acrolein has long been known to cause cancer when its concentration in the body rises, and a high concentration of the chemical has also been linked to neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases – all of which progress slowly and resist treatment.

Shi’s team decided to see if the chemical was present in another slow-developing, seemingly untreatable condition: the degeneration of the spinal cord after initial traumatic injury. Because acrolein has a long lifespan and is toxic, the researchers theorize that it is primarily responsible for the secondary damage that keeps injured spines from healing.

After measuring acrolein levels in the injured spines of 25 guinea pigs for several days following an injury, Shi’s team came to the conclusion that the chemical is primarily responsible for the secondary damage that keeps injured spines from healing.

Furthermore, acrolein’s involvement with other conditions suggests that it could be the key to fighting a number of diseases. Shi said that some drugs already under development for other conditions could be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases as well, including anti-hypertensives.

Although further research will be necessary to determine how great a role acrolein actually plays in the process of secondary spinal cord damage, once this role is clarified, drugs that counter acrolein’s effects could join the other investigational approaches to treating spinal cord injury.

The team’s findings could yield further significance as acrolein-fighting drugs could one day improve treatments not only for spinal cord injury but for a host of other neurodegenerative conditions, indicating a possible wealth of opportunity.