Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Dec 2018
Transplantation of Neural Progenitors and V2a Interneurons after Spinal Cord Injury.
There is growing interest in the use of neural precursor cells to treat spinal cord injury (SCI). Despite extensive pre-clinical research, it remains unclear as to which donor neuron phenotypes are available for transplantation, whether the same populations exist across different sources of donor tissue (e.g., developing tissue vs. cultured cells), and whether donor cells retain their phenotype once transplanted into the hostile internal milieu of the injured adult spinal cord. In addition, while functional improvements have been reported after neural precursor transplantation post-SCI, the extent of recovery is limited and variable. ⋯ Functional diaphragm electromyography indicated recovery 1 month following treatment in transplant recipients. Animals that received donor cells enriched with V2a INs showed significantly greater functional improvement than animals that received NPCs alone. The results from this study offer insight into the neuronal phenotypes that might be effective for (re)establishing neuronal circuits in the injured adult central nervous system.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Dec 2018
Longitudinal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis and Histological Characterization after Spinal Cord Injury in Two Mouse Strains with Different Functional Recovery: Gliosis as a Key Factor.
Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are disastrous neuropathologies causing permanent disabilities. The availability of different strains of mice is valuable for studying the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in SCI. However, strain differences have a profound effect on spontaneous functional recovery after SCI. ⋯ All three modalities revealed no difference in lesion extension and volume between the two strains of mice. Importantly, histopathological analysis identified decreased gliosis and increased serotonergic axons in CX3CR1+/eGFP compared with Aldh1l1-EGFP mice following SCI. These results thus suggest that the strain-dependent improved functional recovery after SCI may be linked with reduced gliosis and increased serotonergic innervation.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Dec 2018
Enhanced Voluntary Exercise Improves Functional Recovery following Spinal Cord Injury by Impacting the Local Neuroglial Injury Response and Supporting the Rewiring of Supraspinal Circuits.
Recent reports suggest that rehabilitation measures that increase physical activity of patients can improve functional outcome after incomplete spinal cord injuries (iSCI). To investigate the structural basis of exercise-induced recovery, we examined local and remote consequences of voluntary wheel training in spinal cord injured female mice. In particular, we explored how enhanced voluntary exercise influences the neuronal and glial response at the lesion site as well as the rewiring of supraspinal tracts after iSCI. ⋯ Enhanced voluntary exercise improved their overall and skilled motor function after injury. In addition, exercising mice started to recover earlier and reached better sustained performance levels. These improvements in motor performance are accompanied by early changes of axonal and glial response at the lesion site and persistent enhancements of the rewiring of supraspinal connections that resulted in a strengthening of both indirect and direct inputs to lumbar motoneurons.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Dec 2018
Dietary Green Tea Extract Prior to Spinal Cord Injury Prevents Hepatic Iron Overload but Does Not Improve Chronic Hepatic and Spinal Cord Pathology in Rats.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts autonomic regulation of visceral organs. As a result, a leading cause of mortality in the SCI population is metabolic dysfunction, and an organ central to metabolic control is the liver. Our recent work showed that rodent SCI promotes Kupffer cell (hepatic macrophage) activation, pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, and liver steatosis. ⋯ Spinal cord pathology also was unchanged by GTE. Thus, dietary GTE prior to and after SCI had only a minor hepatoprotective effect. In general, for optimal health of SCI individuals, it will be important for future studies to evaluate how other lifestyle choices made before or after SCI positively or negatively impact systemic and intraspinal outcomes and the overall metabolic health of SCI individuals.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Dec 2018
Adjudin Attenuates Cerebral Edema and Improves Neurological Function in Mice with Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury.
Adjudin, a small molecular compound that is used as a male contraceptive, has been reported to play a neuroprotective role in an ischemic stroke injury model. However, its effect on traumatic brain injury (TBI) has not been assessed. Hence, we investigated the effects of adjudin on cerebral edema using a mouse model of TBI and explored the underlying mechanisms. ⋯ The Western blot results of the peritraumatic protein samples demonstrated that adjudin significantly blocked the phosphorylation of IKKα, IκBα/β, and NF-κB p65, which resulted in a reduction of NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation. In conclusion, adjudin attenuated the development of TBI-induced cerebral edema at least partly via anti-inflammatory effects and inhibition of the NF-κB pathway. These findings suggest that adjudin is a potential therapeutic intervention preventing the development of cerebral edema after TBI.