Dataset Information

Early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation-induced walking training promotes locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury.

ABSTRACT:

Study design

This is a randomized controlled prospective trial with two parallel groups.

Objectives

The objective of this study was to determine whether early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation (TANES)-induced walking training can improve the locomotor function.

Setting

This study was conducted in SCS Research Center in Colorado, USA.

Methods

A contusion injury to spinal cord T10 was produced using the New York University impactor device with a 25?-mm height setting in female, adult Long-Evans rats. Injured rats were randomly divided into two groups (n=12 per group). One group was subjected to TANES-induced walking training 2 weeks post injury, and the other group, as control, received no TANES-induced walking training. Restorations of behavior and conduction were assessed using the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan open-field rating scale, horizontal ladder rung walking test and electrophysiological test (Hoffmann reflex).

Results

Early application of TANES-induced walking training significantly improved the recovery of locomotor function and benefited the restoration of Hoffmann reflex.

Conclusion

TANES-induced walking training is a useful method to promote locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury.

SUBMITTER: Zhang SX

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5399155 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation-induced walking training promotes locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury.

Zhang S-X SX Huang F F Gates M M Shen X X Holmberg E G EG

Spinal cord 20160412 11

<h4>Study design</h4>This is a randomized controlled prospective trial with two parallel groups.<h4>Objectives</h4>The objective of this study was to determine whether early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation (TANES)-induced walking training can improve the locomotor function.<h4>Setting</h4>This study was conducted in SCS Research Center in Colorado, USA.<h4>Methods</h4>A contusion injury to spinal cord T10 was produced using the New York University impactor device with a 25 -mm h ...[more]

PMID: 27067652

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Project description:Most human spinal cord injuries are anatomically incomplete, leaving some fibers still connecting the brain with the sublesional spinal cord. Spared descending fibers of the brainstem motor control system can be activated by deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the cuneiform nucleus (CnF), a subnucleus of the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR). The MLR is an evolutionarily highly conserved structure which initiates and controls locomotion in all vertebrates. Acute electrical stimulation experiments in female adult rats with incomplete spinal cord injury conducted in our lab showed that CnF-DBS was able to re-establish a high degree of locomotion five weeks after injury, even in animals with initially very severe functional deficits and white matter lesions up to 80-95%. Here, we analyzed whether CnF-DBS can be used to support medium-intensity locomotor training and long-term recovery in rats with large but incomplete spinal cord injuries. Rats underwent rehabilitative training sessions three times per week in an enriched environment, either with or without CnF-DBS supported hindlimb stepping. After 4 weeks, animals that trained under CnF-DBS showed a higher level of locomotor performance than rats that trained comparable distances under non-stimulated conditions. The MLR does not project to the spinal cord directly; one of its main output targets is the gigantocellular reticular nucleus in the medulla oblongata. Long-term electrical stimulation of spared reticulospinal fibers after incomplete spinal cord injury via the CnF could enhance reticulospinal anatomical rearrangement and in this way lead to persistent improvement of motor function. By analyzing the spared, BDA-labeled giganto-spinal fibers we found that their gray matter arborization density after discontinuation of CnF-DBS enhanced training was lower in the lumbar L2 and L5 spinal cord in stimulated as compared to unstimulated animals, suggesting improved pruning with stimulation-enhanced training. An on-going clinical study in chronic paraplegic patients investigates the effects of CnF-DBS on locomotor capacity.

Project description:Neurophysiological changes that involve activity-dependent neuroplasticity mechanisms via repeated stimulation and locomotor training are not commonly employed in research even though combination of interventions is a common clinical practice. In this randomized clinical trial, we established neurophysiological changes when transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex was paired with transcutaneous thoracolumbar spinal (transspinal) stimulation in human spinal cord injury (SCI) delivered during locomotor training. We hypothesized that TMS delivered before transspinal (TMS-transspinal) stimulation promotes functional reorganization of spinal networks during stepping. In this protocol, TMS-induced corticospinal volleys arrive at the spinal cord at a sufficient time to interact with transspinal stimulation induced depolarization of alpha motoneurons over multiple spinal segments. We further hypothesized that TMS delivered after transspinal (transspinal-TMS) stimulation induces less pronounced effects. In this protocol, transspinal stimulation is delivered at time that allows transspinal stimulation induced action potentials to arrive at the motor cortex and affect descending motor volleys at the site of their origin. Fourteen individuals with motor incomplete and complete SCI participated in at least 25 sessions. Both stimulation protocols were delivered during the stance phase of the less impaired leg. Each training session consisted of 240 paired stimuli delivered over 10-min blocks. In transspinal-TMS, the left soleus H-reflex increased during the stance-phase and the right soleus H-reflex decreased at mid-swing. In TMS-transspinal no significant changes were found. When soleus H-reflexes were grouped based on the TMS-targeted limb, transspinal-TMS and locomotor training promoted H-reflex depression at swing phase, while TMS-transspinal and locomotor training resulted in facilitation of the soleus H-reflex at stance phase of the step cycle. Furthermore, both transspinal-TMS and TMS-transspinal paired-associative stimulation (PAS) and locomotor training promoted a more physiological modulation of motor activity and thus depolarization of motoneurons during assisted stepping. Our findings support that targeted non-invasive stimulation of corticospinal and spinal neuronal pathways coupled with locomotor training produce neurophysiological changes beneficial to stepping in humans with varying deficits of sensorimotor function after SCI.

Dataset Information

Early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation-induced walking training promotes locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury.

Study design

Objectives

Setting

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation-induced walking training promotes locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury.

Similar Datasets

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