Keeping promises: translating basic research into new spinal cord injury therapies

Centuries of medical wisdom-namely that spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment was limited to caretaking until the patients inevitably succumbed to complications-has given way to tremendous medical and research advancements. The prognosis for survival after SCI improved significantly after World War II, leading to the largest population of people aging with chronic SCI in history. Despite the general lack of optimism for functional recovery after SCI, the spinal cord has proven to be one of the most attractive systems for studying central nervous system plasticity. Predictions of clinical applications derived from basic findings now routinely accompany reports of evidence for spinal axon regeneration. This has led to great debate in the SCI research community about the level and quality of evidence needed to select truly promising candidate therapies. This article reviews the basis for optimism in the new understanding of the processes of degeneration after SCI and the mechanisms of regeneration. The emphasis is on neuroprotective and reparative strategies emerging from the animal literature, and on the steps remaining to be taken to translate these into effective clinical trials of new therapies. Examples of the translational process in related areas of brain injury and stroke are cited, as well as the specific issues relating to the needs of individuals with SCI.