scholarly journals Development of a Spinal Cord Injury Model Permissive to Study the Cardiovascular Effects of Rehabilitation Approaches Designed to Induce Neuroplasticity

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1006
Author(s):  
Liisa Wainman ◽  
Erin L. Erskine ◽  
Mehdi Ahmadian ◽  
Thomas Matthew Hanna ◽  
Christopher R. West
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Cardiovascular Effects ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Ventricular Contractility ◽  
Clinical Model ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Hemodynamic Function ◽  
Cervical Injuries

As primary medical care for spinal cord injury (SCI) has improved over the last decades there are more individuals living with neurologically incomplete (vs. complete) cervical injuries. For these individuals, a number of promising therapies are being actively researched in pre-clinical settings that seek to strengthen the remaining spinal pathways with a view to improve motor function. To date, few, if any, of these interventions have been tested for their effectiveness to improve autonomic and cardiovascular (CV) function. As a first step to testing such therapies, we aimed to develop a model that has sufficient sparing of descending sympathetic pathways for these interventions to target yet induces robust CV impairment. Twenty-six Wistar rats were assigned to SCI (n = 13) or naïve (n = 13) groups. Animals were injured at the T3 spinal segment with 300 kdyn of force. Fourteen days post-SCI, left ventricular (LV) and arterial catheterization was performed to assess in vivo cardiac and hemodynamic function. Spinal cord lesion characteristics along with sparing in catecholaminergic and serotonergic projections were determined via immunohistochemistry. SCI produced a decrease in mean arterial pressure of 17 ± 3 mmHg (p < 0.001) and left ventricular contractility (end-systolic elastance) of 0.7 ± 0.1 mmHg/µL (p < 0.001). Our novel SCI model produced significant decreases in cardiac and hemodynamic function while preserving 33 ± 9% of white matter at the injury epicenter, which we believe makes it a useful pre-clinical model of SCI to study rehabilitation approaches designed to induce neuroplasticity.

scholarly journals Cardio-centric hemodynamic management improves spinal cord oxygenation and mitigates hemorrhage in acute spinal cord injury

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Williams ◽  
Neda Manouchehri ◽  
Erin Erskine ◽  
Keerit Tauh ◽  
Kitty So ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Contractile Function ◽  
Cervical Spinal Cord ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Ventricular Contractility ◽  
Vasopressor Therapy ◽  
Post Injury ◽  
Hemodynamic Management ◽  
Cord Injury

AbstractChronic high-thoracic and cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a complex phenotype of cardiovascular consequences, including impaired left-ventricular contractility. Here, we sought to determine whether such dysfunction manifests immediately post-injury, and if so, whether correcting impaired contractility can improve spinal cord oxygenation (SCO2), blood flow (SCBF) and metabolism. Using a porcine model of SCI, we demonstrate that high-thoracic SCI acutely impairs cardiac contractility and causes substantial reductions in intraparenchymal SCO2 and SCBF within the first hours post-injury. Utilizing the same model, we next show that treating the reduced contractile function with the β-agonist dobutamine is more efficacious at increasing SCO2 and SCBF than the current clinical standard of vasopressor therapy, whilst also mitigating increased anaerobic metabolism and hemorrhage in the injured cord. Our data provide compelling evidence that cardio-centric hemodynamic management represents a novel and advantageous alternative to the current clinical standard of vasopressor therapy for acute traumatic SCI.

scholarly journals A Collagen-Based Scaffold for Promoting Neural Plasticity in a Rat Model of Spinal Cord Injury

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2245
Author(s):  
Jue-Zong Yeh ◽  
Ding-Han Wang ◽  
Juin-Hong Cherng ◽  
Yi-Wen Wang ◽  
Gang-Yi Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Rat Model ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Collagen Scaffold ◽  
Glial Scar ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Cord Injury

In spinal cord injury (SCI) therapy, glial scarring formed by activated astrocytes is a primary problem that needs to be solved to enhance axonal regeneration. In this study, we developed and used a collagen scaffold for glial scar replacement to create an appropriate environment in an SCI rat model and determined whether neural plasticity can be manipulated using this approach. We used four experimental groups, as follows: SCI-collagen scaffold, SCI control, normal spinal cord-collagen scaffold, and normal control. The collagen scaffold showed excellent in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility. Immunofluorescence staining revealed increased expression of neurofilament and fibronectin and reduced expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and anti-chondroitin sulfate in the collagen scaffold-treated SCI rats at 1 and 4 weeks post-implantation compared with that in untreated SCI control. This indicates that the collagen scaffold implantation promoted neuronal survival and axonal growth within the injured site and prevented glial scar formation by controlling astrocyte production for their normal functioning. Our study highlights the feasibility of using the collagen scaffold in SCI repair. The collagen scaffold was found to exert beneficial effects on neuronal activity and may help in manipulating synaptic plasticity, implying its great potential for clinical application in SCI.

scholarly journals Immunosuppressants Affect Human Neural Stem Cells In Vitro but Not in an In Vivo Model of Spinal Cord Injury

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 731-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Sontag ◽  
Hal X. Nguyen ◽  
Noriko Kamei ◽  
Nobuko Uchida ◽  
Aileen J. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Neural Stem Cells ◽  
In Vivo Model ◽  
Human Neural Stem Cells ◽  
Cord Injury

scholarly journals Depolarization and electrical stimulation enhance in vitro and in vivo sensory axon growth after spinal cord injury

2018 ◽  
Vol 300 ◽  
pp. 247-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Goganau ◽  
Beatrice Sandner ◽  
Norbert Weidner ◽  
Karim Fouad ◽  
Armin Blesch
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Axon Growth ◽  
Sensory Axon ◽  
Cord Injury

An in vivo model of anti-inflammatory activity of subdural dexamethasone following the spinal cord injury

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek M. Kwiecien ◽  
Bozena Jarosz ◽  
Wendy Oakden ◽  
Michal Klapec ◽  
Greg J. Stanisz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Inflammatory Activity ◽  
In Vivo Model ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Anti Inflammatory

Transplantation of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells at Different Locations in Mice with Spinal Cord Injury

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 1451-1464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroki Iwai ◽  
Satoshi Nori ◽  
Soraya Nishimura ◽  
Akimasa Yasuda ◽  
Morito Takano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Functional Recovery ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Neural Stem Progenitor Cells ◽  
Neurotropic Factor ◽  
Transplantation Site

Transplantation of neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI); however, few studies have examined the optimal site of NS/PC transplantation in the spinal cord. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal transplantation site of NS/PCs for the treatment of SCI. Wild-type mice were generated with contusive SCI at the T10 level, and NS/PCs were derived from fetal transgenic mice. These NS/PCs ubiquitously expressed ffLuc-cp156 protein (Venus and luciferase fusion protein) and so could be detected by in vivo bioluminescence imaging 9 days postinjury. NS/PCs (low: 250,000 cells per mouse; high: 1 million cells per mouse) were grafted into the spinal cord at the lesion epicenter (E) or at rostral and caudal (RC) sites. Phosphate-buffered saline was injected into E as a control. Motor functional recovery was better in each of the transplantation groups (E-Low, E-High, RC-Low, and RC-High) than in the control group. The photon counts of the grafted NS/PCs were similar in each of the four transplantation groups, suggesting that the survival of NS/PCs was fairly uniform when more than a certain threshold number of cells were transplanted. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that brain-derived neurotropic factor expression was higher in the RC segment than in the E segment, and this may underlie why NS/PCs more readily differentiated into neurons than into astrocytes in the RC group. The location of the transplantation site did not affect the area of spared fibers, angiogenesis, or the expression of any other mediators. These findings indicated that the microenvironments of the E and RC sites are able to support NS/PCs transplanted during the subacute phase of SCI similarly. Optimally, a certain threshold number of NS/PCs should be grafted into the E segment to avoid damaging sites adjacent to the lesion during the injection procedure.

scholarly journals Reaction of ependymal cells to spinal cord injury: a potential role for oncostatin pathway and microglial cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Chevreau ◽  
H Ghazale ◽  
C Ripoll ◽  
C Chalfouh ◽  
Q Delarue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Glial Cells ◽  
Mapk Signaling ◽  
Central Canal ◽  
Microglial Cells ◽  
Ependymal Cells ◽  
Rna Profiling ◽  
Cord Injury

AbstractEpendymal cells with stem cell properties reside in the adult spinal cord around the central canal. They rapidly activate and proliferate after spinal cord injury, constituting a source of new cells. They produce neurons and glial cells in lower vertebrates but they mainly generate glial cells in mammals. The mechanisms underlying their activation and their glial-biased differentiation in mammals remain ill-defined. This represents an obstacle to control these cells. We addressed this issue using RNA profiling of ependymal cells before and after injury. We found that these cells activate STAT3 and ERK/MAPK signaling during injury and downregulate cilia-associated genes and FOXJ1, a central transcription factor in ciliogenesis. Conversely, they upregulate 510 genes, six of them more than 20 fold, namely Crym, Ecm1, Ifi202b, Nupr1, Rbp1, Thbs2 and Osmr. OSMR is the receptor for the inflammatory cytokine oncostatin (OSM) and we studied its regulation and role using neurospheres derived from ependymal cells. We found that OSM induces strong OSMR and p-STAT3 expression together with proliferation reduction and astrocytic differentiation. Conversely, production of oligodendrocyte-lineage OLIG1+ cells was reduced. OSM is specifically expressed by microglial cells and was strongly upregulated after injury. We observed microglial cells apposed to ependymal cells in vivo and co-cultures experiments showed that these cells upregulate OSMR in neurosphere cells. Collectively, these results support the notion that microglial cells and OSMR/OSM pathway regulate ependymal cells in injury. In addition, the generated high throughput data provides a unique molecular resource to study how ependymal cell react to spinal cord lesion.

scholarly journals Cytokine and Growth Factor Activation In Vivo and In Vitro after Spinal Cord Injury

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Garcia ◽  
Jorge Aguilar-Cevallos ◽  
Raul Silva-Garcia ◽  
Antonio Ibarra
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Glutamate Excitotoxicity ◽  
Signaling Proteins ◽  
Neurodegenerative Process ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Ion Imbalance

Spinal cord injury results in a life-disrupting series of deleterious interconnected mechanisms encompassed by the primary and secondary injury. These events are mediated by the upregulation of genes with roles in inflammation, transcription, and signaling proteins. In particular, cytokines and growth factors are signaling proteins that have important roles in the pathophysiology of SCI. The balance between the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects of these molecules plays a critical role in the progression and outcome of the lesion. The excessive inflammatory Th1 and Th17 phenotypes observed after SCI tilt the scale towards a proinflammatory environment, which exacerbates the deleterious mechanisms present after the injury. These mechanisms include the disruption of the spinal cord blood barrier, edema and ion imbalance, in particular intracellular calcium and sodium concentrations, glutamate excitotoxicity, free radicals, and the inflammatory response contributing to the neurodegenerative process which is characterized by demyelination and apoptosis of neuronal tissue.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document