The Repair of Spinal Cord Injury in Primate: The Role of Acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor

• Main Authors: Chin-Chu Ko, 柯金柱
• Other Authors: Henrich Cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6v4326

博士 === 國立陽明大學 === 藥理學研究所 === 107 === Spinal cord injury (SCI), with an incidence rate of 246 per million-person-years for adults in Taiwan, remains a devastating disease in the current era. Despite advances made in medicine and technology to date, there are few effective treatments for SCI due to the limitations in regenerative capacity in the adult central nervous system. There have been experiments and clinical trials aimed at neuro-regeneration in human SCI. This thesis, The Repair of Spinal Cord Injury in Primates: The Role of Acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor (aFGF), is composed of three chapters. (I) an overall review summarizing the historical evolution of the utilization of aFGF in SCI; (II) a report of long-term outcomes of a phase II clinical trial using aFGF in chronic SCI; (III) application of the novel strategy of aFGF in conjunction with peripheral nerve grafts to treat the hemi-sectioned thoracic spinal cord in Formosan macaques. Promising results in using aFGF for neural regeneration are demonstrated in this doctorial report. It is predictable that tailored combinations of strategies will lead to cumulative improvements in outcomes after SCI.