Author: Jamie Kay WongPublisher:
ISBN: 9781267058362
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
There is currently no effective treatment for the devastating loss of motor function that results from spinal cord injury (SCI). The experiments conducted for this dissertation aimed to identify therapeutic strategies that could enhance neuroplasticity and thereby enhance the degree of functional recovery beyond the extent of recovery achieved with spontaneous recovery. The first project validated the use of a straight alley version of the BBB locomotor scale to assess hindlimb locomotor function following SCI. The second project re-assessed whether chronic nicotine treatment is neuroprotective in Sprague-Dawley rats following a moderate contusion at thoracic level 9 (T9). Beginning 2 hours following the injury, 0.35mg/kg nicotine was administered daily for 14 days. Hindlimb locomotor recovery was assessed using the BBB locomotor scale at 2 days post injury, then weekly. Nicotine-treated rats did not exhibit significantly different BBB scores than saline controls and had significantly larger lesion volumes, indicating that chronic nicotine treatment does not reliably enhance recovery in different animal models of SCI. The third project aimed to determine whether a single dose of amphetamine paired with motor training enhances motor recovery following SCI, as it has been reported to do so following cortical injury. Rats received amphetamine with training on a beam walking task 24 hours following either a T9 or cervical level 5 (C5) lateral hemisection. Surprisingly, although pairing amphetamine with motor training enhances motor recovery following cortical injury, it increases lesion volume and significantly impairs motor recovery following SCI. The fourth project aimed to determine whether chronic inosine treatment enhances motor recovery following SCI, as it does following stroke and traumatic brain injury. One day following a right C5 lateral hemisection, rats had inosine delivered into the right lateral ventricle for 14 days. Inosine-treated rats showed significantly improved performance on the beam walking task and significantly enhanced gripping ability than controls. Histological analysis revealed that inosine-treated had significantly smaller lesion volumes than controls, which suggests that inosine might be neuroprotective following SCI. However, because 2 saline-treated rats had more extensive lesions, the possibility that the differences in recovery were due to the surgeries cannot be excluded.
