• World Neurosurg · Sep 2019

    Monkey Recovery from Spinal Cord Hemisection: Nerve Repair Strategies for Rhesus Macaques.

    • Chin-Chu Ko, Tsung-Hsi Tu, Ya-Tzu Chen, Jau-Ching Wu, Wen-Cheng Huang, and Henrich Cheng.
    • Jhong Jheng Spine & Orthopedic Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
    • World Neurosurg. 2019 Sep 1; 129: e343-e351.

    ObjectiveRepair of spinal cord injury (SCI) using peripheral nerve graft (PNG) and acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) has shown promising results in rats and a few human patients, but not in nonhuman primates. The aim of this study was to verify the effective use of PNG and aFGF for repairing incomplete SCI in nonhuman primates.MethodsSix adult rhesus macaques received spinal cord hemisection at T8 level and were grouped into repair and control groups (n = 3 in each). Animals in the repair group underwent nerve repair with autologous PNG plus aFGF immediately after lesioning. The control group received exactly the same operation for lesioning but no treatment. Postoperative behavioral evaluations, electrophysiologic tests (including motor and somatosensory evoked potentials), and magnetic resonance imaging were performed and compared between the 2 groups as well as histologic examination of the spinal cord cephalic to, at, and caudal to the lesion site after sacrifice.ResultsAnimals in the repair group had better motor function in the lower limbs at every observed time point and demonstrated more improvement on electrophysiologic examinations than the control group. The repair group had smaller areas of myelomalacia on magnetic resonance imaging around the lesion compared with the control group, suggesting diminished inflammatory responses with the repair strategy.ConclusionsPNG plus aFGF for SCI in nonhuman primates yielded improvements in clinical behavior, electrophysiologic tests, and magnetic resonance imaging. This study suggests that the repair strategy is feasible and effective for nonhuman primate SCI. Further investigations are warranted to corroborate its effectiveness for clinical application.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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