Mice that are seriously disabled from a multiple sclerosis (MS)-like condition, were able to walk less than two weeks after undergoing a treatment with human stem cells, a new study shows. The mice received human neural stem cell transplants as part of their treatment.

Despite the fact that research does not often pan out in humans, the study’s researchers hope that the new findings provide valuable clues towards treating people with MS.

The finding will be published online on May 15 in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

Initially, scientists transplanting the human cells into MS mice believed that the cells would be rejected, as is often the case in organ transplant rejection.

Co-senior author, Tom Lane, PhD, a professor of pathology at the University of Utah, said in a statement, “My postdoctoral fellow Dr. Lu Chen came to me and said, ‘The mice are walking.’ I didn’t believe her.”

Within 10 to 14 days after treatment began, the mice regained motor skills. Six months later, they did not appear to be slowing down.

Co-senior author Jeanne Loring, PhD, professor at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, noted, “This result opens up a whole new area of research for us.”

According to familydoctor.org, MS is an autoimmune disease that impacts the nervous system. Typically, antibodies that are produced by the immune system aid in protecting the body against viruses, bacteria, and foreign substances. In MS patients, the immune system destroys the myelin sheath, the substance that surrounds and protects the body’s nerve cells.