Enhanced motor function by training in spinal cord contused rats following radiation therapy.

Weight-bearing stepping, without supraspinal re-connectivity, can be attained by treadmill training in an animal whose spinal cord has been completely transected at the lower thoracic level. Repair of damaged tissue and of supraspinal connectivity/circuitry following spinal cord injury in rat can be achieved by specific cell elimination with radiation therapy of the lesion site delivered within a critical time window, 2-3 weeks postinjury. Here we examined the effects of training in the repaired spinal cord following clinical radiation therapy. Studies were performed in a severe rat spinal cord contusion injury model, one similar to fracture/crush injuries in humans; the injury was at the lower thoracic level and the training was a combined hindlimb standing and stepping protocol. Radiotherapy, in a similar manner to that reported previously, resulted in a significant level of tissue repair/preservation at the lesion site. Training in the irradiated group, as determined by limb kinematics tests, resulted in functional improvements that were significant for standing and stepping capacity, and yielded a significant direct correlation between standing and stepping performance. In contrast, the training in the unirradiated group resulted in no apparent beneficial effects, and yielded an inverse correlation between standing and stepping performance, e.g., subject with good standing showed poor stepping capacity. Further, without any training, a differential functional change was observed in the irradiated group; standing capacity was significantly inhibited while stepping showed a slight trend of improvement compared with the unirradiated group. These data suggest that following repair by radiation therapy the spinal circuitries which control posture and locomotor were modified, and that the beneficial functional modulation of these circuitries is use dependent. Further, for restoring beneficial motor function following radiotherapy, training seems to be crucial.

Therapeutic strategy for acute spinal cord contusion injury: cell elimination combined with microsurgical intervention.

BACKGROUND: No cure is available for human spinal cord injury. Cell elimination by localized radiation therapy that is timed within 2-3 weeks postinjury can facilitate repair of structure and function in transected rat spinal cord. In pilot studies in contusion spinal cord injury, a model similar to crush/fracture injury in human, we did not observe the expected beneficial effects of radiation therapy. Long forgotten data show that in contusion/crush injury, fluid accumulation from hemorrhage is critical. Alfred Reginald Allen observed that the most devastating sequelae in contusive injury are secondary to fluid accumulation which could be alleviated by surgical intervention, midline slits (myelotomy) at the lesion site. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Here, we tested whether release of fluid buildup by microsurgery (partial myelotomy) would affect the structural outcome of radiation therapy in the severely contused rat spinal cord. Surgical intervention alone significantly enhanced tissue and functional preservation in the contused cord, thus confirming Allen's observations. Combining partial myelotomy with radiation therapy that is specifically timed postinjury elicited substantial beneficial therapeutic outcome; it led to significant increase in tissue repair/preservation compared with the group that received surgical intervention only, as determined by histology and in vivo MRI. Altogether, the combined treatments led to a 1.8 fold increase in tissue repair/preservation as compared with the contused group. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that a clinical protocol could be developed to treat acute human spinal cord injury through conventional clinical procedures, a combination of microsurgical manipulation and radiation therapy. These also suggest it is imperative to first prevent the secondary damage caused by fluid accumulation for a cure to be possible.

Cell elimination as a strategy for repair in acute spinal cord injury.

Following injury, as part of the wound-healing process, cell proliferation occurs mostly to replace damaged cells and to reconstitute the tissue back to normal condition/function. In the spinal cord some of the dividing cells following injury interfere with the repair processes. This interference occurs at the later stages of wound healing (the third week after injury) triggering chronic inflammation and progressive tissue decay that is the characteristic pathology of spinal cord injury. Specific cell elimination within a critical time window after injury can lead to repair in the acutely injured spinal cord. Cell proliferation events can be manipulated/modified by x-irradiation. Clinically, numerous radiation protocols (i.e., radiation therapy) have been developed that specifically eliminate the rapidly dividing cells without causing any noticeable/significant damage to the tissue as a whole. Radiation therapy when applied within the critical time window after injury prevents the onset of chronic inflammation thus leading to repair of structure and function. Various aspects of the development of this cell-elimination strategy for repair in acute spinal cord injury by utilizing radiation therapy are being reviewed. Topics reviewed here: identifying the window of opportunity; and the beneficial repair effects of radiation therapy in a transection injury model and in a model relevant to human injury, the contusion injury model. The possible involvement of cellular components of the blood-spinal cord barrier as the trigger of chronic inflammation and/or target of the radiation therapy is discussed.