Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Aug 2015
Female rats demonstrate improved locomotor recovery and greater preservation of white and grey matter following traumatic spinal cord injury compared to males.
The possibility of a gender-related difference in recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a controversial subject. Current empirical animal research lacks sizable test groups to definitively determine whether significant differences exist. Evaluating locomotor recovery variances between sexes following a precise, clinically relevant spinal cord contusion model can provide valuable insight into a possible gender-related advantage in outcome post-SCI. ⋯ Significant differences in locomotor performance were noticeable as early as 4 weeks post-SCI. Stereological tissue-volume analysis determined that females, more so than males, also exhibited greater volumes of preserved gray and white matter within the injured cord segment as well as more spared ventral white matter area at the center of the lesion. The stereological tissue analysis differences favoring females directly correlated with the female rats' greater functional improvement observed at endpoint.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Aug 2015
Comment LetterLetter to the editor. Commentary regarding the recent publication by Tabarow et al, Functional regeneration of supraspinal connections in a patient with transected spinal cord following transplantation of bulbar olfactory ensheathing cells with peripheral nerve bridging.