scholarly journals The Graph-DCK Scale: a measure of dorsal column function after spinal cord injury

Spinal Cord ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 412-418
Author(s):  
Marlon L Wong ◽  
Jacqueline Tibbett ◽  
Temitope Adedolapo ◽  
Eva Widerstrom-Noga
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Dorsal Column ◽  
Cord Injury

scholarly journals Local Serpin Treatment via Chitosan-Collagen Hydrogel after Spinal Cord Injury Reduces Tissue Damage and Improves Neurologic Function

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek M. Kwiecien ◽  
Liqiang Zhang ◽  
Jordan R. Yaron ◽  
Lauren N. Schutz ◽  
Christian J. Kwiecien-Delaney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Tissue Damage ◽  
Low Dose ◽  
Dorsal Column ◽  
Neurological Deficits ◽  
Sustained Delivery ◽  
Post Surgery ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Anti Inflammatory

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in massive secondary damage characterized by a prolonged inflammation with phagocytic macrophage invasion and tissue destruction. In prior work, sustained subdural infusion of anti-inflammatory compounds reduced neurological deficits and reduced pro-inflammatory cell invasion at the site of injury leading to improved outcomes. We hypothesized that implantation of a hydrogel loaded with an immune modulating biologic drug, Serp-1, for sustained delivery after crush-induced SCI would have an effective anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effect. Rats with dorsal column SCI crush injury, implanted with physical chitosan-collagen hydrogels (CCH) had severe granulomatous infiltration at the site of the dorsal column injury, which accumulated excess edema at 28 days post-surgery. More pronounced neuroprotective changes were observed with high dose (100 µg/50 µL) Serp-1 CCH implanted rats, but not with low dose (10 µg/50 µL) Serp-1 CCH. Rats treated with Serp-1 CCH implants also had improved motor function up to 20 days with recovery of neurological deficits attributed to inhibition of inflammation-associated tissue damage. In contrast, prolonged low dose Serp-1 infusion with chitosan did not improve recovery. Intralesional implantation of hydrogel for sustained delivery of the Serp-1 immune modulating biologic offers a neuroprotective treatment of acute SCI.

scholarly journals Autophagy induction stabilizes microtubules and promotes axon regeneration after spinal cord injury

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (40) ◽  
pp. 11324-11329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao He ◽  
Yuetong Ding ◽  
Chen Chu ◽  
Jing Tang ◽  
Qi Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Axon Regeneration ◽  
Neuronal Degeneration ◽  
Dorsal Column ◽  
Microtubule Assembly ◽  
Autophagy Induction ◽  
Cord Injury

Remodeling of cytoskeleton structures, such as microtubule assembly, is believed to be crucial for growth cone initiation and regrowth of injured axons. Autophagy plays important roles in maintaining cellular homoeostasis, and its dysfunction causes neuronal degeneration. The role of autophagy in axon regeneration after injury remains speculative. Here we demonstrate a role of autophagy in regulating microtubule dynamics and axon regeneration. We found that autophagy induction promoted neurite outgrowth, attenuated the inhibitory effects of nonpermissive substrate myelin, and decreased the formation of retraction bulbs following axonal injury in cultured cortical neurons. Interestingly, autophagy induction stabilized microtubules by degrading SCG10, a microtubule disassembly protein in neurons. In mice with spinal cord injury, local administration of a specific autophagy-inducing peptide, Tat-beclin1, to lesion sites markedly attenuated axonal retraction of spinal dorsal column axons and cortical spinal tract and promoted regeneration of descending axons following long-term observation. Finally, administration of Tat-beclin1 improved the recovery of motor behaviors of injured mice. These results show a promising effect of an autophagy-inducing reagent on injured axons, providing direct evidence supporting a beneficial role of autophagy in axon regeneration.

scholarly journals Wallerian degeneration in cervical spinal cord tracts is commonly seen in routine T2-weighted MRI after traumatic spinal cord injury and is associated with impairment in a retrospective study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Fischer ◽  
Christoph Stern ◽  
Patrick Freund ◽  
Martin Schubert ◽  
Reto Sutter
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Wallerian Degeneration ◽  
Evoked Potential ◽  
Corticospinal Tract ◽  
Cervical Spinal Cord ◽  
Dorsal Column ◽  
Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Spinothalamic Tract ◽  
Cord Injury

Abstract Objectives Wallerian degeneration (WD) is a well-known process after nerve injury. In this study, occurrence of remote intramedullary signal changes, consistent with WD, and its correlation with clinical and neurophysiological impairment were assessed after traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI). Methods In 35 patients with tSCI, WD was evaluated by two radiologists on T2-weighted images of serial routine MRI examinations of the cervical spine. Dorsal column (DC), lateral corticospinal tract (CS), and lateral spinothalamic tract (ST) were the analyzed anatomical regions. Impairment scoring according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS, A–D) as well as a scoring system (0–4 points) for motor evoked potential (MEP) and sensory evoked potential (SEP) was included. Mann-Whitney U test was used to test for differences. Results WD in the DC occurred in 71.4% (n = 25), in the CS in 57.1% (n = 20), and in 37.1% (n = 13) in the ST. With WD present, AIS grades were worse for all tracts. DC: median AIS B vs D, p < 0.001; CS: B vs D, p = 0.016; and ST: B vs D, p = 0.015. More pathological MEP scores correlated with WD in the DC (median score 0 vs 3, p < 0.001) and in the CS (0 vs 2, p = 0.032). SEP scores were lower with WD in the DC only (1 vs 2, p = 0.031). Conclusions WD can be detected on T2-weighted scans in the majority of cervical spinal cord injury patients and should be considered as a direct effect of the trauma. When observed, it is associated with higher degree of impairment. Key Points • Wallerian degeneration is commonly seen in routine MRI after traumatic spinal cord injury. • Wallerian degeneration is visible in the anatomical regions of the dorsal column, the lateral corticospinal tract, and the lateral spinothalamic tract. • Presence of Wallerian degeneration is associated with higher degree of impairment.

scholarly journals Regeneration of dorsal column axons after spinal cord injury in young rats

1998 ◽  
Vol 249 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 135-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soki Kikukawa ◽  
Saburo Kawaguchi ◽  
Akira Mizoguchi ◽  
Chizuka Ide ◽  
Morimichi Koshinaga
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Dorsal Column ◽  
Young Rats ◽  
Cord Injury

scholarly journals Multimodal sensory evaluation of neuropathic spinal cord injury pain: an experimental study

Spinal Cord ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Opsommer ◽  
Natalya Korogod ◽  
Lenka Stockinger ◽  
Gunther Landmann
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Experimental Study ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Dorsal Column ◽  
Control Site ◽  
Contact Heat ◽  
Combined Application ◽  
Contact Heat Evoked Potentials ◽  
Cord Injury

Abstract Study design An experimental study. Objectives To investigate the changes in somatosensory functions using the combined application of quantitative sensory testing (QST), contact heat-evoked potentials (CHEPs) and laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) studies in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) in relation to neuropathic pain (NeP). Setting Centre for Pain Medicine, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland. Methods Individuals with SCI were compared: 12 with NeP (SCI NeP) and 12 without NeP (SCI no NeP). Tools used were QST, CHEPs, LEPs and self-reported questionnaires. Tests were applied to the control (hand) and test (dermatome of altered sensation) sites, and compared to the able-bodied group. Results QST, LEPs and CHEPs assessments showed abnormalities both on the test and control sites, which did not differ between the groups with SCI. QST showed higher prevalence of allodynia in SCI NeP. CHEPs and LEPs demonstrated diminished amplitudes in both groups with SCI in comparison to able-bodied individuals. Only reaction time (RT) analysis revealed the difference of SCI NeP from the other two groups, expressed in partially preserved responses to the laser C-fibre stimulations. Conclusions Combination of assessments in our study allowed to examine spinothalamic and dorsal column functions in individuals with SCI. Changes in QST, CHEPs and LEPs were detected below the level of injury independent of NeP and at the control site indicating modifications in sensory processing rostral to the spinal lesion. Analysis of RT during laser stimulation could be an essential component when evaluating the somatosensory functions related to NeP in persons with SCI.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document