ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Primary injuries of the spinal cord are irreversible in the pathoplhysiological process. Most of studies have focused on prevention against secondary injuries, by reducing neuronal apoptosis and necrosis as well as decreasing damage area, which provides favorable environment for axonal regeneration, blocks secondary injury and promotes neural regeneration after spinal cord injury.OBJECTIVE: To review the recent advances in the signaling pathway related to secondary injuries after spinal cord injury,and to clarify the related signaling pathways, thereby providing theoretical basis for the treatment of spinal cord injury.METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, CNKI, CJFD and Wanfang databases were retrieved for the articles addressing the signaling pathways in spinal cord injury published between 2006 to 2016. The keywords were "spinal cord injury, signaling pathway" in English and Chinese, respectively. The signaling pathways in secondary injuries after spinal cord injury were summarized.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Mitogen activated protein kinase, nuclear factor of kappa B, PI3K/PKB (Akt), Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription, and Wnt signaling pathways are mainly involved in secondary injuries after spinal cord injury. All these pathways play a significant role in the development and repair of spinal cord injury, and future investigation on them is warranted.