Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · May 2014
Testosterone dose-dependently prevents bone and muscle loss in rodents following spinal cord injury.
Androgen administration protects against musculoskeletal deficits in models of sex-steroid deficiency and injury/disuse. It remains unknown, however, whether testosterone prevents bone loss accompanying spinal cord injury (SCI), a condition that results in a near universal occurrence of osteoporosis. Our primary purpose was to determine whether testosterone-enanthate (TE) attenuates hindlimb bone loss in a rodent moderate/severe contusion SCI model. ⋯ TE also dose dependently increased prostate mass. Our findings provide the first evidence indicating that high-dose TE fully prevents hindlimb cancellous bone loss and concomitantly ameliorates muscle loss after SCI, while low-dose TE produces much less profound musculoskeletal benefit. Testosterone-induced prostate enlargement, however, represents a potential barrier to the clinical implementation of high-dose TE as a means of preserving musculoskeletal tissue after SCI.
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Journal of neurotrauma · May 2014
Alcohol Intoxication and its Effects on Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Outcomes.
There are sparse data regarding the impact of alcohol on in-hospital complications associated with traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCIs). We set out to quantify the impact of alcohol on TSCI outcomes and its influence on health care cost and utilization. The National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) Research Data Set version 7.2 (2000-2006) was utilized to gather data between 2007 and 2009. ⋯ Further, there was a statistically significant association with the presence alcohol and increased risk for pulmonary, pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, urinary tract infection, and ulcer/skin complications. Alcohol intoxication is associated with increased in-hospital morbidity. The significant association with in-hospital complications increases health resource utilization after spinal cord injury.
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Journal of neurotrauma · May 2014
Novel multi-system functional gains via task specific training in spinal cord injured male rats.
Locomotor training (LT) after spinal cord injury (SCI) is a rehabilitative therapy used to enhance locomotor recovery. There is evidence, primarily anecdotal, also associating LT with improvements in bladder function and reduction in some types of SCI-related pain. In the present study, we determined if a step training paradigm could improve outcome measures of locomotion, bladder function, and pain/allodynia. ⋯ Bladder NGF mRNA levels were inversely related to bladder function in the trained group. Monitoring of overground locomotion and neuropathic pain throughout the study revealed significant improvements, beginning after 3 weeks of training, which in both cases remained consistent for the study duration. These novel findings, improving non-locomotor in addition to locomotor functions, demonstrate that step training post-SCI could contribute to multiple quality of life gains, targeting patient-centered high priority deficits.
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Journal of neurotrauma · May 2014
Astrocytic and vascular remodeling in the injured adult rat spinal cord after Chondroitinase ABC treatment.
Upregulation of extracellular chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPG) is a primary cause for the failure of axons to regenerate after spinal cord injury (SCI), and the beneficial effect of their degradation by chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) is widely documented. Little is known, however, about the effect of ChABC treatment on astrogliosis and revascularization, two important factors influencing axon regrowth. This was investigated in the present study. ⋯ Further, during the first weeks post-injury, ChABC treatment affected the morphology of laminin-positive blood vessel basement membranes and vessel-independent laminin deposits: hypertrophied blood vessels with detached or duplicated basement membrane were more numerous than in lesioned untreated animals. In contrast, at later time points, laminin expression increased and became more directly associated with newly formed blood vessels, the size of which tended to be closer to that found in intact tissue. Our data reinforce the idea that ChABC injection in combination with other synergistic treatments is a promising therapeutic strategy for SCI repair.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Apr 2014
Evidence for the therapeutic efficacy of either mild hypothermia or oxygen radical scavengers following repetitive mild traumatic brain injury.
Repetitive brain injury, particularly that occurring with sporting-related injuries, has recently garnered increased attention in both the clinical and public settings. In the laboratory, we have demonstrated the adverse axonal and vascular consequences of repetitive brain injury and have demonstrated that moderate hypothermia and/or FK506 exerted protective effects after repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) when administered within a specific time frame, suggesting a range of therapeutic modalities to prevent a dramatic exacerbation. In this communication, we revisit the utility of targeted therapeutic intervention to seek the minimal level of hypothermia needed to achieve protection while probing the role of oxygen radicals and their therapeutic targeting. ⋯ Whereas complete impairment of vascular reactivity was observed in group 1 (without intervention), significant preservation of vascular reactivity was found in the other groups. Similarly, whereas remarkable increase in the APP-positive axon was observed in group 1, there were no significant increases in the other groups. Collectively, these findings indicate that even mild hypothermia or the blunting free radical damage, even when performed in a delayed period, is protective in repetitive mTBI.