• Homa Zamani, Mina Soufizomorrod, Saeed Oraee-Yazdani, Dariush Naviafar, Mohammadhosein Akhlaghpasand, Afsoun Seddighi, and Masoud Soleimani.
• Department of Cell Therapy and Hematology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
• Spinal Cord. 2021 Sep 9.

Study DesignThis is a phase I clinical trial.ObjectivesOur objective was to assess the safety and feasibility of autologous mucosal olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) co-transplantation in people with chronic, complete (American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) classification A) spinal cord injury (SCI).SettingThis study was performed at Shohada Tajrish Hospital, Tehran, Iran.MethodsThree individuals with the traumatic SCI of the thoracic level were enrolled. They received the autologous OEC and MSC combination through the lumbar puncture. All adverse events and possible functional outcomes were documented performing pre- and post-operative general clinical examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), neurological assessment based on the International Standard of Neurological Classification for SCI, and functional evaluation using Spinal Cord Independence Measure version III (SCIM III).ResultsNo serious safety issue was recorded during the 2 years of follow-up. MRI findings remained unchanged with no neoplastic tissue formation. AIS improved from A to B in one of the participants. SCIM III evaluation also showed some degrees of progress in this participant's functional ability. The two other research participants had negligible or no improvement in their sensory scores without any changes in the AIS and SCIM III scores. No motor recovery was observed in any of the participants.ConclusionsOverall, this 2-year trial was not associated with any adverse findings, which may suggest the safety of autologous OEC and bone marrow MSC combination for the treatment of human SCI.© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Spinal Cord Society.

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