Spinal injury, fast assessment

Osteoporosis is a consequence of spinal cord injury (SCI) that leads to fragility fractures. Visual assessment of bone scans suggests regional variation in bone loss, but this has not been objectively characterised. In addition, substantial inter-individual variation in bone loss following SCI has been reported but it is unclear how to identify fast bone losers. Therefore, to examine regional bone loss, tibial bone parameters were assessed in 13 individuals with SCI (aged 16-76 years). Peripheral quantitative computed tomography scans at 4 % and 66 % tibia length were acquired within 5 weeks, 4 months and 12 months postinjury...

BACKGROUND: Limited progress in terms of an effective treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) emphasizes the urgent need for novel therapies. As a vital central nervous system component, the resident astrocytes play crucial roles in regulating recovery after SCI. In this study, recovery after SCI was compared following the transplantation of either A1 or A2 astrocytes. A1 astrocytes are harmful as they upregulate the neurotoxic classical complement cascade genes. Conversely, A2 astrocytes are characterized as neuroprotective as they upregulate the production of many neurotrophic factors...

PURPOSE: This study assessed the effects of upper-body rowing exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness, traditional cardiometabolic risk factors, and vascular health in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: Seventeen male and female adults with chronic (> 1 yr) motor-complete and incomplete SCI (level of injury: C4-L3) were randomized to control (CON, n = 9) or exercise (UBROW, n = 8). Participants in UBROW performed 12-week, 3 weekly sessions of 30-min upper-body ergometer rowing exercise, complying with current exercise guidelines for SCI...

BACKGROUND: Spasticity, i.e. stretch hyperreflexia, increases joint resistance similar to symptoms like hypertonia and contractures. Botulinum neurotoxin-A (BoNT-A) injections are a widely used intervention to reduce spasticity. BoNT-A effects on spasticity are poorly understood, because clinical measures, e.g. modified Ashworth scale (MAS), cannot differentiate between the symptoms affecting joint resistance. This paper distinguishes the contributions of the reflexive and intrinsic pathways to ankle joint hyper-resistance for participants treated with BoNT-A injections...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The pathogenesis of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the ultrastructural pathology of neurovascular unit (NVU) during natural development of CSM. METHODS: A total of 24 rats were randomly allocated to the control group and the CSM group. Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scoring and somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) were used as functional assessments. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE), toluidine blue (TB), and Luxol fast blue (LFB) stains were used for general structure observation...

We explored the impact of a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet (LC/HP, ~30% energy from protein, 40% energy from carbohydrate) on indices of metabolic function and body composition in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Adults with SCI (≥3 years post-injury, C4-L2, AIS A-D) and insulin resistance or pre-diabetes were randomly assigned to an 8-week iso-caloric LC/HP diet group (n = 11) or control group (n = 14). All LC/HP meals were delivered weekly to participants' homes, and participants in the control group consumed their habitual diet...

Regular exercise involves daily muscle contractions helping metabolize up to 70% of daily ingested glucose. Skeletal muscle increases glucose uptake through two distinct pathways: insulin signaling pathway and muscle contraction mediated AMPK pathway. People with paralysis are unable to contract their muscles which atrophy, transform into insulin resistant glycolytic muscle, and develop osteoporosis. Our goal is to determine if low force electrically induced exercise (LFE) will modulate the post prandial insulin and glucose response in people with and without spinal cord injury (SCI)...

OBJECTIVES: Heart rate (HR) is one of the physiological variables in the early assessment of trauma-related haemorrhagic shock, according to Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS). However, its efficiency as predictor of mortality is contradicted by several studies. Furthermore, the linear association between HR and the severity of shock and blood loss presented by ATLS is doubtful. This systematic review aims to update current knowledge on the role of HR in the initial haemodynamic assessment of patients who had a trauma...

INTRODUCTION: Long pulse width stimulation (LPWS; 120-150 ms) has the potential to stimulate denervated muscles and to restore muscle size in denervated people with spinal cord injury (SCI). We will determine if testosterone treatment (TT)+LPWS would increase skeletal muscle size, leg lean mass and improve overall metabolic health in persons with SCI with denervation. We hypothesise that the 1-year TT+LPWS will upregulate protein synthesis pathways, downregulate protein degradation pathways and increase overall mitochondrial health...

BACKGROUND: Our previous study identified miR-99a as a negative regulator of early chondrogenic differentiation. However, the functional role of miR-99a in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) remains unclear. METHODS: We examined the levels of miR-99a and Frizzled 8 (FZD8) expression in tissue specimens. Human SW1353 chondrosarcoma cells were stimulated with IL-6 and TNF-α to construct an in vitro OA environment. A luciferase reporter assay was performed to analyze the relationship between miR-99a and FZD8...

Human body movement occurs as a result of a coordinated effort between the skeleton, muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and other connective tissue. The study of movement is crucial in the treatment of some neurological and musculoskeletal diseases. The advancement of science and technology has led to the development of musculoskeletal model simulation software such as OpenSim that plays a very significant role in tackling complex bioengineering challenges and assists in our understanding of human movement...

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of spasticity on glucose metabolism and percentage of fat-free mass (FFM%) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Patients and methods: A total of 33 patients (22 males, 11 females; mean age: 38.6±12.5 years; range, 20 to 64 years) with SCI defined by the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale Grades A to D were included between September 2014 and May 2018. We assessed spasticity with the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and evaluated spasms with the Penn Spasm Frequency Scale (PSFS)...

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a ruinous neurological pathology that results in locomotor and sensory impairment. Neuro-inflammation and secondary neuronal apoptosis contribute to SCI, with anti-inflammatory therapies the focus of many SCI studies. Forsythoside B (FTS•B), a phenylethanoid glycoside extracted from the leaves of Lamiophlomis rotata Kudo, has been shown previously to have anti-inflammatory properties. Nevertheless, the therapeutic effect of FTS•B on neuro-inflammation after SCI is unknown...

Objective: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most devastating central injuries, resulting in serious locomotor deficits. Triad1 is known to play an important role in SCI, but its effects on the inflammatory response and physiological behavior have not been thoroughly studied. This study is aimed at examining the effects of Triad1 on the inflammatory response and neuronal injury in acute SCI in rats. Methods: Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a control group, SCI group, sh-NC group, and Triad1 knockout group (sh-Triad1)...

Recently, marked therapeutic effects pertaining to the recovery of injured rat spinal cords (1 min compression injury of the sacrocaudal spinal cord (S2-Co1) resulting in tail paralysis) appeared after a single intraperitoneal administration of the stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 at 10 min post-injury. Besides the demonstrated rapid and sustained recovery (1 year), we showed the particular points of the immediate effect of the BPC 157 therapy that began rapidly after its administration, (i) soon after injury (10 min), or (ii) later (4 days), in the rats with a definitive spinal cord injury...

BACKGROUND: Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced neuroinflammation results in secondary neurological destruction and functional disorder. Previous findings showed that microglial pyroptosis plays a crucial role in neuroinflammation. Thus, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the mechanisms associated with post-SCI microglial pyroptosis. The Fanconi Anemia Group C complementation group gene (FANCC) has been previously reported to have an anti-inflammation effect; however, whether it can regulate microglial pyroptosis remains unknown...

STUDY DESIGN: Proof of concept. OBJECTIVES: Standard Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) systems can enhance motor learning in people with tetraplegia and are widely delivered by self-adhesive electrodes. Their limitations are dexterity, specific knowledge to place the electrodes on muscles, need to fix electrodes when they lose the gel layer, and time. We designed a new FES system, using an existing protocol of drinking-like movements, to the upper limb of a person with tetraplegia C5 that fits in any anthropometry and can be easily produced...

Type I and IIa diaphragm muscle (DIAm) fibers comprise fatigue resistant slow and fast motor units that are recruited to accomplish breathing. In contrast, type IIx/IIb fibers comprise more fatigable fast motor units that are infrequently recruited only during airway protective and straining behaviors. The activity and energetic demand for type I and IIa DIAm fibers is markedly increased compared to type IIx/IIb fibers. Cervical spinal cord hemisection at C2 (C2 SH) removes excitatory drive for inspiratory activity of the DIAm and thereby imposing prolonged inactivity of type I and IIa fibers...

Research animals are routinely anesthetized for varying durations of time and using different anesthetics. However, the anesthesia is usually limited to the duration of surgical procedures or other interventions usually lasting no more than a few hours. Establishing a long-term anesthetic model in regenerative competent species, such as the Mexican axolotl, would allow for better estimations of physiological parameters during regeneration as the behavioral aspect is detached. As such, we aim for an anesthetic duration of 60 days, a period of time compatible with regeneration of limb amputations as well as heart and spinal cord injury...

Core components of the circadian clock and molecules involved in neuroplasticity elicited by acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) exhibit 24-hour rhythms in gene expression in the phrenic/diaphragm motor system. Ongoing investigations of time-of-day effects on AIH-induced motor plasticity must account for changes in time spent across vigilance states since sleep architecture profoundly influences other biological rhythms across the rest-active cycle. Previous investigations from our group reported a marginal increase in wakefulness during the AIH exposure in unanesthetized rats (10, 5-min hypoxic episodes; 5 min intervals)...