Neuroscience letters
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Neuroscience letters · Jan 2003
Comparative StudyAttenuation of mechanical hyperalgesia following spinal cord injury by administration of antibodies to nerve growth factor in the rat.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to central pain syndrome including hyperalgesia to mechanical stimulation. Since there is evidence that nerve growth factor (NGF) contributes to pain-related behaviors, we wished to determine if anti-NGF might inhibit abnormal somatosensory behaviors that develop following SCI in rats. SCI was performed in male Sprague-Dawley rats by T13 spinal hemisection. ⋯ Mechanical responsiveness of wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons on both sides of spinal cord also increased. The anti-NGF treated group demonstrated significant suppression of both mechanical hyperalgesia and increased WDR neuronal responsiveness. These results indicate that anti-NGF prevents the development of abnormal somatosensory behavior and suggest a potential pre-emptive analgesic treatment for central pain.
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Neuroscience letters · Jan 2003
Comparative StudyMagnesium attenuates persistent functional deficits following diffuse traumatic brain injury in rats.
Although a number of studies have demonstrated that magnesium improves acute motor and cognitive outcome after traumatic brain injury, others have failed to show positive effects on cognitive outcome and none have examined persistent functional deficits. The present study shows that severe impact-acceleration induced, diffuse traumatic brain injury in rats produced profound motor and cognitive deficits that persisted for at least 4 weeks after trauma. Intravenous administration of magnesium sulfate (250 micromoles/kg) at 30 min after injury significantly improved rotarod (sensorimotor) and open field (stress/anxiety) performance, and led to a faster rate of recovery in the Barnes maze (learning). We conclude that posttraumatic magnesium administration attenuates long-term motor and cognitive deficits after traumatic brain injury, and that this improvement may include some reduction of post-traumatic stress and anxiety.