Damaged brains helped by stem cell therapy

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they have found a way in which neuronal stem cells in the adult brain might be used in treating brain injuries.

According to some experts, newly born adult neuronal brain stem cells could help repair brain injuries, but first a way must be found to regulate the manner in which they are created -- a process known as neurogenesis.

The researchers led by Laurence Katz of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine suggest a way in which that might be achieved.

According to the study, neurogenesis can be regulated through induced hypothermia. In rat subjects, a mild decrease in body temperature was found to substantially decrease the proliferation of newly-born neurons, the researchers said.

"Many questions remain before we adequately understand how to control these cells to repair a damaged brain," said Katz. "However, the findings represent an important step in demonstrating these cells can be controlled by simple external forces like hypothermia."

He presented the findings last weekend in Washington during the annual meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. Abstracts of that presentation appear in the May supplemental issue of the journal Academic Emergency Medicine.