The effect of exercise on locomotor and neurological functional improvement after spinal cord injury / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of exercise on the recovery of locomotor and neurological function in rats after incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods Ninety-five male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group, a training group (including subgroups which received training for 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 4 weeks) and a sham operation group. The control and training groups were administered an SCI model at the T_(10) level by extradural compression using a modified Allen's stall with a damage energy of 40 g-cm. These rats were loosely restrained and given partial weight-bearing treadmill training 5min/time, twice a day for 1-4 weeks. Locomotor and neurological function were evaluated with inclined plane tests, modified Tarlov scores, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan scale and spinal cord somatosensory evoked potential (SCSEP) before injury and at different time points thereafter. Results Locomotor function improved significantly at different time points during the train-ing, and significantly better than in the control group. In the rats trained for 2-4 weeks, SCSEP latency shortened sig-nificantly compared to the control group. The latency shortened gradually with longer exercise. Conclusions Exer-cise with partial weight support may improve locomotor and neurological function. The improvements are correlated closely with the duration of the training.