BRISBANE (Reuters Health) - A team of scientists in Australia is attempting to repair spinal cord injuries for the first time using cells collected from a patient's nasal passage.

The first historic 8-hour operation was conducted in June and, although team members were guarded in their responses, it appears that more than one operation may be performed.

This first trial will consist of eight patients, some of whom are yet to be recruited.

The researchers transplanted a type of cell found inside the nose, known as olfactory ensheathing cells, into the spinal cord of a volunteer paraplegic patient.

By collecting the cells from the patient's nose, problems of rejection were eliminated.

Although the trial team was careful not to raise false hopes that the procedure will be a cure for paralysis, there is a chance that the cells "will do something positive for these people," said ear nose and throat specialist, Dr. Chris Perry, of Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.

He expects the patient to possibly regain some feeling and have some improvement in bladder and bowel function.

In addition to Perry, the research team includes Princess Alexandra Hospital spinal injuries unit head Dr. Tim Geraghty, and Griffith University scientists Professor Alan Mackay-Sim and Dr. Francois Feron. They began planning the trial 2 years ago.

The actual procedure began when Perry harvested nasal tissue from the patient several weeks before the operation at Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Olfactory ensheathing cells are a type of cell more typically found in the brain and spinal cord and their easy accessibility avoids the need for removing cells from the brain itself. Unlike other nerve cells in the body, these cells are unique that they are continually regenerated throughout life.

The cells were then grown in the laboratory by the Griffith University scientists, representing the first time such cells had been harvested from the nose and grown in such a manner.

The Griffith scientists and colleagues from the University of New South Wales had already demonstrated that the cells could spur regeneration in the injured spinal cords of laboratory rats.

Fourteen million cells were dissolved in two drops of fluid and transplanted into several areas of the patient's injured spinal cord.

The cells were injected with a specially assembled surgical device developed by the team and made at Griffith University.

This allowed the cells to be injected through extremely fine needles, they said.

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