WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Indiana researchers have found a way to heal spinal injuries in dogs using injections of a liquid polymer known as polyethylene glycol.
The Purdue University scientists, in a study summarized in the December issue of the Journal of Neurotrauma, found if PEG was administered within 72 hours of serious spinal injury, it could prevent most dogs from suffering permanent spinal damage.
Even when the spine is initially damaged to the point of paralysis, the PEG solution prevented the nerve cells from rupturing irrevocably, enabling them to heal themselves.
"Nearly 75 percent of the dogs we treated with PEG were able to resume a normal life," said Richard Borgens of the team. "Some healed so well that they could go on as though nothing had happened."
It has been known for decades that two cells that touch each other can become one big cell if PEG is added to the fluid they live in. Because of this surprising ability, PEG is sometimes called a "fusogen."
