Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2017
CHARACTERIZATION OF MOTOR AND SOMATOSENSORY EVOKED POTENTIALS IN THE YUCATAN MICROPIG USING TRANSCRANIAL AND EPIDURAL STIMULATION.
Yucatan micropigs have brain and spinal cord dimensions similar to humans and are useful for certain spinal cord injury (SCI) translational studies. Micropigs are readily trained in behavioral tasks, allowing consistent testing of locomotor loss and recovery. However, there has been little description of their motor and sensory pathway neurophysiology. ⋯ Autopsy studies revealed substantial variations in cortical morphology between animals. This electrophysiological study establishes that neurophysiological measures can be reliably obtained in micropigs in a time frame compatible with other experimental procedures, such as SCI and transplantation. It underscores the need to better understand the motor control pathways, including the corticospinal tract, to determine which therapeutics are suitable for testing in the pig model.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2017
The ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate attenuates oxidative stress in spinal cord injury by suppression of class I histone deacetylases.
The ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate (βOHB), is reported to be neuroprotective after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. The present study aims to investigate effects of βOHB on suppression of oxidative stress and inhibition of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs) in in vivo and in vitro models. Rats were fed with ketogenic diet (KD) or standard diet (SD) for 3 weeks. ⋯ Depletion of HDAC1 or HDAC2 with small interfering RNA (siRNA) attenuated H2O2-induced ROS production and protein carbonylation and elevated FOXO3a protein levels, meanwhile reducing NOX2 and NOX4 protein expression in PC12 cells. Our results indicate that the ketone metabolite βOHB attenuates oxidative stress in SCI by inhibition of class I HDACs, and selected suppression of HDAC1 or HDAC2 regulates FOXO3a, NOX2, and NOX4 expression. Therefore, the ketone metabolite βOHB may be a novel promising therapeutic agent for SCI.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2017
Compensatory function of the diaphragm following high cervical hemisection in the rat.
Unilateral high cervical spinal hemisection (i.e., C2Hx) interrupts the respiratory bulbospinal pathway and results in paralysis of the hemidiaphragm. The ipsilateral diaphragmatic activity can partially recover over weeks to months; however, its contribution to the tidal volume generation is less than 20%. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the contralateral diaphragm exerts a compensatory function to maintain the essential ventilation following C2Hx. ⋯ Moreover, the arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure was significantly elevated in C2Hx animals (from 76 ± 8 mmHg to 117 ± 5 mmHg) but not in uninjured animals (from 51 ± 4 mmHg to 55 ± 3 mmHg). By 2 and 8 weeks post-injury, contralateral phrenicotomy still caused a greater reduction in the tidal volume in C2Hx than in uninjured animals, and the percentage decline of the tidal volume was similar to the response at 1 day post-injury. These data suggested that unilateral cervical spinal cord injury induced a persistent compensatory plasticity in the contralateral diaphragm, which plays a critical role in maintenance of essential ventilation.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2017
Three Year Trends in VHA Utilization and Costs Following Traumatic Brain Injury Screening among Veterans with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
Examination of trends in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) healthcare utilization and costs among veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is needed to inform policy, resource allocation, and treatment planning. The objective of this study was to assess the patterns of VHA healthcare utilization and costs in the 3 years following TBI screening among veterans with mTBI, compared with veterans without TBI. A retrospective cohort study of veterans who underwent TBI screening in fiscal year 2010 was conducted. ⋯ A significant proportion of healthcare use and costs for veterans with mTBI were associated with mental health service utilization. The relatively high rate of VHA utilization and costs associated with mTBI over time demonstrates the importance of long-term planning to meet these veterans' needs. Identifying and engaging patients with mTBI in effective mental health treatments should be considered a critical component of treatment planning.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2017
The Biological Basis of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy following Blast Injury: A Literature Review.
The United States Department of Defense Blast Injury Research Program Coordinating Office organized the 2015 International State-of-the-Science meeting to explore links between blast-related head injury and the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Before the meeting, the planning committee examined articles published between 2005 and October 2015 and prepared this literature review, which summarized broadly CTE research and addressed questions about the pathophysiological basis of CTE and its relationship to blast- and nonblast-related head injury. It served to inform participants objectively and help focus meeting discussion on identifying knowledge gaps and priority research areas. ⋯ Consequently, the existing literature is not sufficient to determine whether the development of CTE is associated with head injury frequency (e.g., single vs. multiple exposures) or head injury type (e.g., impact, nonimpact, blast-related). Moreover, the incidence and prevalence of CTE in at-risk populations is unknown. Future research priorities should include identifying additional risk factors, pursuing population-based longitudinal studies, and developing the ability to detect and diagnose CTE in living persons using validated criteria.