09/09/2025 | Jornal Nacional | G1

https://g1.globo.com/jornal-nacional/noticia/2025/09/09/cientistas-brasileiros-usam-proteina-da-placenta-para-devolver-parte-dos-movimentos-de-caes-e-humanos-que-tiveram-lesao-na-medula.ghtml 

Research has found that, when reintroduced into the body, polylaminin can help the longest part of the neuron open a new path at the site of the injury to the next neuron, generating the electrical impulse necessary to perform a movement.

On Tuesday (9), Brazilian scientists presented the results of research they have been conducting for over 25 years. In the experimental phase, treatment based on a protein extracted from the placenta restored some movement in dogs and humans who had spinal cord injuries. Anvisa still needs to authorize new clinical trials to ensure patient safety.

Bank employee Bruno Drummond de Freitas suffered a car accident in 2018 that caused a serious cervical injury, with complete crushing of part of his spinal cord.

“I woke up after surgery without remembering anything and unable to move. I could move my arm here. But my fingers, feet, leg, hip, abdomen—nothing moved,” says Bruno.

But before waking up and discovering he was quadriplegic, he underwent a procedure as soon as he arrived at the hospital. With his family's consent, he became a patient in an academic clinical study approved by ethics committees. And two weeks after the accident...

“I was able to move my toe. The moment I moved my big toe, I thought to myself: ‘Okay, what am I going to do with my big toe?’” says Bruno.

What Bruno didn't know yet was that this small movement, so trivial to him, was the first major practical result in a human being of research that began in 1999 in the laboratories of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The study was led by Brazilian researcher Tatiana Sampaio, a professor at UFRJ.

"To move our big toe, we only need two neurons. One is here in the brain and communicates with the second neuron in the spinal cord, which is inside the spine. The second neuron then leaves the spine and goes to the big toe to carry information so that it can move. What happens in an injury is that the communication between these two neurons—the one here and the other inside the spine—is interrupted. What we discovered here was a way to reestablish this connection," explains Tatiana Coelho de Sampaio.

How did this happen? By observing laminin: a protein in the human body that forms a large mesh and drives the exchange of information between neurons in the embryonic stage of life. Later, it becomes rarer in the body. The biologist discovered that it was possible to recreate this large mesh, called polylaminina, in the laboratory by extracting proteins from placentas.

Researchers, doctors, physical therapists, and students from UFRJ joined the study funded by the Rio de Janeiro State Research Support Foundation (Faperj), and together they found that when reintroduced into the body, polylaminin can help the longest part of the neuron open a new path at the site of the injury to the next neuron, generating the electrical impulse necessary to perform a movement.

Neurosurgeon Marco Aurélio de Lima, with over 30 years of experience in spinal surgery, participated in studies that began seven years ago on eight patients with complete spinal cord injuries. Each patient received a single injection of polylaminine directly into the injured area within 72 hours of the accident.

“This is unprecedented. Because no study had demonstrated this until now. In the world. If we search today, we will not find any study in the world with medication acting on spinal cord regeneration that has achieved this,” says spine neurosurgeon Marco Aurélio Brás de Lima.

Two patients did not survive the injuries caused by the accidents. The other six showed varying degrees of motor recovery. Today, Silvânia can lift her legs and pedal. Guilherme regained mobility in his arms, hands, and abdomen. Artisan Nilma Palmeira de Melo regained control of her body, can operate her wheelchair, and performs feats of strength.

“Standing up, because the doctor said I wouldn't be able to. I was just about dancing with happiness,” says Nilma Palmeira de Melo.

In 2021, a Brazilian pharmaceutical company turned the polylaminine experiment into a drug tested on six dogs with older injuries, as shown on Fantástico. Four regained movement. An international scientific journal published the results.

The patent registration for the polylaminine compound took 18 years. The pharmaceutical company presented the results of the studies on Tuesday (9) in São Paulo. New clinical trials with the drug in humans depend on authorization from Anvisa, which is awaiting additional information for safety reasons.

"As these were academic tests, the company is now conducting additional tests to meet regulatory requirements, especially safety requirements, so that Anvisa can authorize the start of the next phase, which is phase 1 with patients. Then you ask, ‘But has a test already been done with patients?’. But still in an academic way, with few patients," explains Claudiosvan Martins, clinical research coordinator at Anvisa.

Experts consulted by Jornal Nacional say that the research brings hope, but they urge caution until the results are proven in the new stages of the study.

Bruno moved much more than just his toe. He lifted one leg, then both, used a walker and cane, climbed stairs, ran, jumped. Today, he walks across the university campus to the laboratories where it all began.

“Nowadays, I can move around completely, of course with certain limitations. My leg is moving. So, I can get up, I can walk, dance, fly. I can move around here. So, this here, thank God, has given me my independence. I'm moving. Foot. There's movement in the foot,” celebrates Bruno Drummond de Freitas.