Galectin-3 absence alters lymphocytes populations dynamics behavior and promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury in mice.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results from various mechanisms that damage the nervous tissue and the blood-brain barrier, leading to sensory and motor function loss below the injury site. Unfortunately, current therapeutic approaches for SCI have limited efficacy in improving patients outcomes. Galectin-3, a protein whose expression increases after SCI, influences the neuroinflammatory response by favoring pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages and microglia, while inhibiting pro-regenerative M2 macrophages and microglia, which are crucial for inflammation resolution and tissue regeneration. Previous studies with Galectin-3 knock-out mice demonstrated enhanced motor recovery after SCI. The M1/M2 balance is strongly influenced by the predominant lymphocytic profiles (Th1, Th2, T Reg, Th17) and cytokines and chemokines released at the lesion site. The present study aimed to investigate how the absence of galectin-3 impacts the adaptive immune system cell population dynamics in various lymphoid spaces following a low thoracic spinal cord compression injury (T9-T10) using a 30 g vascular clip for one minute. It also aimed to assess its influence on the functional outcome in wild-type (WT)and Galectin-3 knock-out (GALNEG) mice. Histological analysis with hematoxylin-eosin and Luxol Fast Blue staining revealed that WT and GALNEG animals exhibit similar spinal cord morphology. The absence of galectin-3 does not affect the common neuroanatomy shared between the groups prompting us to analyze outcomes between both groups. Following our crush model, both groups lost motor and sensory functions below the lesion level. During a 42-day period, GALNEG mice demonstrated superior locomotor recovery in the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) gait analysis and enhanced motor coordination performance in the ladder rung walk test (LRW) compared to WT mice. GALNEG mice also exhibited better sensory recovery, and their electrophysiological parameters suggested a higher number of functional axons with faster nerve conduction. Seven days after injury, flow cytometry of thymus, spleen, and blood revealed an increased number of T Reg and Th2 cells, accompanied by a decrease in Th1 and Th17 cells in GALNEG mice. Immunohistochemistry conducted on the same day exhibited an increased number of Th2 and T Reg cells around the GALNEG's spinal cord lesion site. At 42-day dpi immunohistochemistry analyses displayed reduced astrogliosis and greater axon preservation in GALNEG's spinal cord seem as a reduction of GFAP immunostaining and an increase in NFH immunostaining, respectively. In conclusion, GALNEG mice exhibited better functional recovery attributed to the milder pro-inflammatory influence, compensated by a higher quantity of T Reg and Th2 cells. These findings suggest that galectin-3 plays a crucial role in the immune response after spinal cord injury and could be a potential target for clinical therapeutic interventions.

Análise cinemática da marcha com medidas normalizadas e não-normalizadas em indivíduos hígidos: um estudo experimental / Kinematic gait analysis with normalized and non-normalized measurements in healthy individuals: an experimental study

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar as possíveis relações entre a variável antropométrica comprimento dos membros inferiores e de passada na marcha, com valores naturais e normalizados, em velocidade auto-selecionada e acrescida de 50%, em indivíduos adultos jovens. Foram avaliados 32 sujeitos hígidos adultos entre 18-25 anos. Os deslocamentos corporais nas duas velocidades foram registrados através da técnica de cineantropometria, utilizando o software Skillspector® para quantificar o comprimento da passada entre as médias dos dados normalizadas e não-normalizadas, do segmento direito e do segmento esquerdo. A comparação entre os valores médios das passadas normalizadas e não-normalizadas, nas diferentes velocidades, foi realizada por meio do teste t student (p < 0,05), assim como o grau de associação entre o comprimento da passada e o comprimento do membro inferior, realizada pelo teste de correlação de Pearson (p < 0,05). Sendo assim, nosso estudo constatou uma correlação positiva entre as variáveis estudadas, nas duas velocidades e, uma diferença entre a passada com dados normalizados e não normalizados, em ambas as velocidades. (AU)

The aim of this study was to analyze the possible relationships between the anthropometric variable length of the lower limbs and gait stride, with natural and normalized values, at self-selected speed and increased by 50%, in young adult individuals. 32 healthy adult subjects aged 18-25 years were evaluated. Body movements at both speeds were recorded using the kinanthropometry technique, using the Skillspector® software to quantify the stride length between the normalized and nonnormalized data averages for the right and left segments. The comparison between the mean values of normalized and non-normalized strides, at different speeds, was performed using the Student t test (p < 0.05), as well as the degree of association between stride length and lower limb length, performed by the Pearson correlation test (p < 0.05). Thus, our study found a positive correlation between the variables studied, at both speeds, and a difference between the stride with normalized and non-normalized data, at both speeds. (AU)