Israeli Researchers Develop Glutamate-Lowering Injection That Improves Mobility in Mice With Spinal Cord Injury

Israeli researchers have developed an intravenous treatment that removes excess glutamate from the bloodstream after spinal cord injury, limiting secondary nerve damage and improving mobility in animal tests. The approach, led by Dr. Angela Ruban of Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, was published in February in the journal Inflammation and Regeneration.

Spinal cord trauma triggers a rapid rise in extracellular glutamate, the brain’s most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter. Within minutes, mechanical damage releases stored glutamate while impairing normal clearance, allowing the chemical to overstimulate receptors, drive calcium influx, activate destructive enzymes, and kill neurons and glial cells that survived the initial injury.

The new method uses circulating liver enzymes to break glutamate into other molecules, lowering its concentration in the blood.

Dr. Ruban said the drop creates a concentration gradient across the blood–brain barrier, prompting glutamate to flow from the brain into the bloodstream and thereby reducing levels inside nerve cells. In mice, the treatment sharply lowered glutamate, limited inflammation and tissue loss, and preserved neural structure.

Animals given the injection regained walking ability within two days; two months later they reached about 80 percent of normal motor function, compared with roughly 20 percent in untreated controls. The therapy worked only when administered within eight hours of injury and is delivered by simple intravenous injection. Dr.

Ruban said the finding shows it is possible to intervene in the damage process immediately after injury rather than addressing its consequences later. Dr. ” She added that reduced damage would enable more successful rehabilitation.