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Hindlimb immobilization in a wheelchair alters functional recovery following contusive spinal cord injury in the adult rat.

ABSTRACT: Locomotor training of rats with thoracic contusion spinal cord injuries can induce task-specific changes in stepping but rarely results in improved overground locomotion, possibly due to a ceiling effect. Thus, the authors hypothesize that incompletely injured rats maximally retrain themselves while moving about in their cages over the first few weeks postinjury.To test the hypothesis using hindlimb immobilization after mild thoracic contusion spinal cord injury in adult female rats. A passive stretch protocol was included as an independent treatment.Wheelchairs were used to hold the hindlimbs stationary in an extended position leaving the forelimbs free. The wheelchairs were used for 15 to 18 hours per day, 5 days per week for 8 weeks, beginning at 4 days postinjury. A 20-minute passive hindlimb stretch therapy was applied to half of the animals.Hindlimb locomotor function of the wheelchair group was not different from controls at 1 week postinjury but declined significantly over the next 4 weeks. Passive stretch had no influence on wheelchair animals but limited functional recovery of normally housed animals, preventing them from regaining forelimb-hindlimb coordination. Following 8 weeks of wheelchair immobilization and stretch therapy, only the wheelchair group displayed an improvement in function when returned to normal housing but retained significant deficits in stepping and coordination out to 16 weeks.Hindlimb immobilization and passive stretch may hinder or conceal the normal course of functional recovery of spinal cord injured rats. These observations have implications for the management of acute clinical spinal cord injuries.

SUBMITTER: Caudle KL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4419333 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Hindlimb immobilization in a wheelchair alters functional recovery following contusive spinal cord injury in the adult rat.

Caudle Krista L KL Brown Edward H EH Shum-Siu Alice A Burke Darlene A DA Magnuson Trystan S G TS Voor Michael J MJ Magnuson David S K DS

Neurorehabilitation and neural repair 20110622 8

<h4>Background</h4>Locomotor training of rats with thoracic contusion spinal cord injuries can induce task-specific changes in stepping but rarely results in improved overground locomotion, possibly due to a ceiling effect. Thus, the authors hypothesize that incompletely injured rats maximally retrain themselves while moving about in their cages over the first few weeks postinjury.<h4>Objective</h4>To test the hypothesis using hindlimb immobilization after mild thoracic contusion spinal cord inj ...[more]

PMID: 21697451

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Project description:BackgroundWnt proteins are a large family of molecules that are critically involved in multiple central nervous system (CNS) developmental processes. Experimental evidences suggest a role for this family of proteins in many CNS disorders, including spinal cord injury (SCI), which is a major neuropathology owing to its high prevalence and chronic sensorimotor functional sequelae. Interestingly, most Wnt proteins and their inhibitors are expressed in the uninjured spinal cord, and their temporal expression patterns are dramatically altered after injury. However, little is known regarding the expression of their better-known receptors, the Frizzled family, after SCI. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression of Frizzled receptors in the damaged spinal cord.FindingsBased on the evidence that Wnts are expressed in the spinal cord and are transcriptionally regulated by SCI in adulthood, we analysed the spatio-temporal mRNA and protein expression patterns of Frizzled receptors after contusive SCI using quantitative RT-PCR and single and double immunohistochemistry, respectively. Our results show that almost all of the 10 known Frizzled receptors were expressed in specific spatial patterns in the uninjured spinal cords. Moreover, the Frizzled mRNAs and proteins were expressed after SCI, although their expression patterns were altered during the temporal progression of SCI. Finally, analysis of cellular Frizzled 5 expression pattern by double immunohistochemistry showed that, in the uninjured spinal cord, this receptor was expressed in neurons, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia and NG2(+) glial precursors. After injury, Frizzled 5 was not only still expressed in oligodendrocytes, astrocytes and NG2(+) glial precursors but also in axons at all evaluated time points. Moreover, Frizzled 5 was expressed in reactive microglia/macrophages from 3 to 14 days post-injury.ConclusionsOur data suggest the involvement of Frizzled receptors in physiological spinal cord function and in the cellular and molecular events that characterise its neuropathology.

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Hindlimb immobilization in a wheelchair alters functional recovery following contusive spinal cord injury in the adult rat.

Publications

Hindlimb immobilization in a wheelchair alters functional recovery following contusive spinal cord injury in the adult rat.

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