An Italo-Austrian team has made a breakthrough with withered leg muscles that could offer hope to people who have lost the use of their legs because of spinal damage.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how leg muscle can be regenerated via electrical stimulation even when there is no nervous tissue present.
''By way of daily stimulation we succeeded in recreating muscular structures even after two or three years of inactivity,'' said Feliciano Protasi of the Ageing Sciences Centre at the University of Chieti.
''After a few years the patients are able to support themselves.
''This type of technique enables us to eliminate a series of secondary problems such as circulation problems or the loss of bone mass in the legs''.
In the future the technique could be used to make legs fully functional again, when scientists find a way to regrow nerve tissues too.
''If one day we are able to reconstruct nervous tissue, it will be very important for them to find muscular tissue in good condition, not atrophied''.
