Steady-State Levels of Monoamines in the Rat Lumbar Spinal Cord: Spatial Mapping and the Effect of Acute Spinal Cord Injury

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 567-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Noga ◽  
Alberto Pinzon ◽  
Riza P. Mesigil ◽  
Ian D. Hentall
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
Intermediate Zone ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Locomotor Rhythms ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

Monoamines in the spinal cord are important in the regulation of locomotor rhythms, nociception, and motor reflexes. To gain further insight into the control of these functions, the steady-state extracellular distribution of monoamines was mapped in the anesthetized rat's lumbar spinal cord. The effect of acute spinal cord lesions at sites selected for high resting levels was determined over ∼1 h to estimate contributions to resting levels from tonic descending activity and to delineate chemical changes that may influence the degree of pathology and recovery after spinal injury. Measurements employed fast cyclic voltammetry with carbon fiber microelectrodes to give high spatial resolution. Monoamine oxidation currents, sampled at equal vertical spacings within each segment, were displayed as contours over the boundaries delineated by histologically reconstructed electrode tracks. Monoamine oxidation currents were found in well defined foci, often confined within a single lamina. Larger currents were typically found in the dorsal or ventral horns and in the lateral aspect of the intermediate zone. Cooling of the low-thoracic spinal cord led to a decrease in the oxidation current (to 71–85% of control) in dorsal and ventral horns. Subsequent low-thoracic transection produced a transient increase in signal in some animals followed by a longer lasting decrease to levels similar to or below that with cooling (to 17–86% of control values). We conclude that descending fibers tonically release high amounts of monoamines in localized regions of the dorsal and ventral horn of the lumbar spinal cord at rest. Lower amounts of monoamines were detected in medial intermediate zone areas, where strong release may be needed for descending activation of locomotor rhythms.

Lipomeningocele associated with diplomyelia in a dog

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (05) ◽  
pp. 323-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nele Ondreka ◽  
Sara Malberg ◽  
Emma Laws ◽  
Martin Schmidt ◽  
Sabine Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Neurological Status ◽  
Split Cord Malformation ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Histopathological Diagnosis ◽  
Type I ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
Subcutaneous Mass ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

SummaryA 2-year-old male neutered mixed breed dog with a body weight of 30 kg was presented for evaluation of a soft subcutaneous mass on the dorsal midline at the level of the caudal thoracic spine. A further clinical sign was intermittent pain on palpation of the area of the subcutaneous mass. The owner also described a prolonged phase of urination with repeated interruption and re-initiation of voiding. The findings of the neurological examination were consistent with a lesion localization between the 3rd thoracic and 3rd lumbar spinal cord segments. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a spina bifida with a lipomeningocele and diplomyelia (split cord malformation type I) at the level of thoracic vertebra 11 and 12 and secondary syringomyelia above the aforementioned defects in the caudal thoracic spinal cord. Surgical resection of the lipomeningocele via a hemilaminectomy was performed. After initial deterioration of the neurological status postsurgery with paraplegia and absent deep pain sensation the dog improved within 2 weeks to non-ambulatory paraparesis with voluntary urination. Six weeks postoperatively the dog was ambulatory, according to the owner. Two years after surgery the owner recorded that the dog showed a normal gait, a normal urination and no pain. Histopathological diagnosis of the biopsied material revealed a lipomeningocele which confirmed the radiological diagnosis.

Anaplastic Astrocytoma in the Spinal Cord of an African Pygmy Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris)

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 934-938 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Gibson ◽  
N. M. A. Parry ◽  
R. M. Jakowski ◽  
D. Eshar
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Anaplastic Astrocytoma ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Postmortem Examination ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Cellular Infiltration ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

A 2–year-old, female hedgehog presented with an 8–month history of progressive, ascending paresis/paralysis and was tentatively diagnosed with wobbly hedgehog syndrome. She died awaiting further diagnostic tests, and the owners consented to postmortem examination. Grossly, the bladder was large and flaccid and the cervical and lumbar spinal cord were regionally enlarged, light grey, and friable with multifocal hemorrhages. The thoracic spinal cord was grossly normal. Microscopically all regions of the spinal cord had similar changes, although the cervical and lumbar sections were most severely affected. These regions were completely effaced by a moderately cellular infiltration of highly pleomorphic polygonal to spindle shaped cells, mineralization, and necrosis, which were most consistent with anaplastic astrocytoma. The thoracic spinal cord white matter was similarly infiltrated by the neoplastic cells, with perivascular extension into the otherwise normal grey matter. A diagnosis of anaplastic astrocytoma was confirmed using immunohistochemical stains that were positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein and S100.

scholarly journals Locomotor Training After Human Spinal Cord Injury: A Series of Case Studies

2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (7) ◽  
pp. 688-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea L Behrman ◽  
Susan J Harkema
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Locomotor Training ◽  
Overground Walking ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Human Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
Cord Injury

AbstractMany individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) do not regain their ability to walk, even though it is a primary goal of rehabilitation. Mammals with thoracic spinal cord transection can relearn to step with their hind limbs on a treadmill when trained with sensory input associated with stepping. If humans have similar neural mechanisms for locomotion, then providing comparable training may promote locomotor recovery after SCI. We used locomotor training designed to provide sensory information associated with locomotion to improve stepping and walking in adults after SCI. Four adults with SCIs, with a mean postinjury time of 6 months, received locomotor training. Based on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale and neurological classification standards, subject 1 had a T5 injury classified as ASIA A, subject 2 had a T5 injury classified as ASIA C, subject 3 had a C6 injury classified as ASIA D, and subject 4 had a T9 injury classified as ASIA D. All subjects improved their stepping on a treadmill. One subject achieved overground walking, and 2 subjects improved their overground walking. Locomotor training using the response of the human spinal cord to sensory information related to locomotion may improve the potential recovery of walking after SCI.

scholarly journals Formation of a Novel Supraspinal-Spinal Connectome that Relearns the Same Motor Task after Complete Paralysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Stuart Urban ◽  
Michael A Thornton ◽  
Katie L Ingraham Dixie ◽  
Erica A Dale ◽  
Hui Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Voluntary Movement ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Behavioral Paradigm ◽  
Postural Stabilization ◽  
Recovery Mechanisms

Electrical spinal cord stimulation enables paraplegic patients to regain voluntary leg movement. This treatment was only intended to engage local spinal networks to facilitate basic standing and postural stabilization without supraspinal input. Therefore the mechanism(s) enabling voluntary movement are unknown. Here we developed the first conditioned behavioral paradigm in rats for studying the recovery of voluntary movement after a paralyzing spinal injury and characterize the recovered neural connection. Rats were trained to kick their right hindlimb in response to an auditory cue. The rats then received a mid-thoracic spinal cord injury, causing hindlimb paralysis. After which, the rats were treated with spinal electro-neuromodulation across the lumbosacral enlargement. Two months after injury, spinal electro-neuromodulation enabled the rats to recover the trained behavior. Stopping or starting the electro-neuromodulation immediately abolished or facilitated recovery. Quipazine (nonspecific 5HT agonist) selectively abolished this recovered voluntary movement. Our work demonstrates a previously unknown highly specific reorganization phenomenon that can functionally reconnect the most distant neural structures. The interference of quipazine suggests the recovery mechanisms differ from those traditionally studied using electro-neuromodulation to recover postural and locomotor functions, and the speed of recovery of this conditioned behavior when electro-neuromodulation was applied proves these mechanisms are engaged within seconds of treatment.

scholarly journals Left-right side-specific endocrine signaling complements neural pathways to mediate acute asymmetric effects of brain injury

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolay Lukoyanov ◽  
Hiroyuki Watanabe ◽  
Liliana S Carvalho ◽  
Olga Kononenko ◽  
Daniil Sarkisyan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injuries ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Postural Asymmetry ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

Brain injuries can interrupt descending neural pathways that convey motor commands from the cortex to spinal motoneurons. Here, we demonstrate that a unilateral injury of the hindlimb sensorimotor cortex of rats with completely transected thoracic spinal cord produces hindlimb postural asymmetry with contralateral flexion and asymmetric hindlimb withdrawal reflexes within 3 hr, as well as asymmetry in gene expression patterns in the lumbar spinal cord. The injury-induced postural effects were abolished by hypophysectomy and were mimicked by transfusion of serum from animals with brain injury. Administration of the pituitary neurohormones β-endorphin or Arg-vasopressin-induced side-specific hindlimb responses in naive animals, while antagonists of the opioid and vasopressin receptors blocked hindlimb postural asymmetry in rats with brain injury. Thus, in addition to the well-established involvement of motor pathways descending from the brain to spinal circuits, the side-specific humoral signaling may also add to postural and reflex asymmetries seen after brain injury.

Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH) in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 76-78
Author(s):  
Vinay Goyal ◽  
Nonica Laisram ◽  
Diganta Borah ◽  
C Chethan.
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Antidiuretic Hormone ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Common Causes ◽  
Lumbar Spinal ◽  
Underlying Diseases ◽  
Sodium And Water Balance

Abstract Hyponatraemia is a known complication associated with neurosurgical conditions including acute spinal injury. The prevalence of hyponatraemia in acute spinal cord injury has been known to be much higher than in the general population. Hyponatraemia is a marker of different underlying diseases and it can be a cause of morbidity itself; this implies the importance of a correct approach to the problem. The syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) is one of the most common causes of hyponatraemia; it is a disorder of sodium and water balance characterised by urinary dilution impairment and euvolaemic/hypotonic hyponatraemia, in the absence of renal disease or any identifiable nonosmotic stimulus able to induce antidiuretic hormone (ADH) release. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. We are reporting a case of hyponatraemia in a patient with lumbar spinal cord injury who was initially managed as any other hyponatraemia and was later diagnosed as suffering from SIADH.

scholarly journals Relationship of American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale Grade to Post-injury Hospitalization and Costs in Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury

Neurosurgery ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen M Dukes ◽  
Steven Kirshblum ◽  
Alex A Aimetti ◽  
Sarah S Qin ◽  
Rebecca K Bornheimer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
American Spinal Injury Association ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Post Injury ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
Cord Injury

Abstract BACKGROUND The lifetime economic burden of thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) is known to be high, but evidence of variability of costs in relation to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade is limited. OBJECTIVE To estimate lifetime economic costs of hospitalization by AIS grade in thoracic SCI. METHODS Using SCI Model Systems data from January 2000 to March 2016 from the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, we estimated mean total annual days of all-cause hospitalization by AIS grade among persons with thoracic SCI, based on assessments 1, 5, and 10 yr post-injury. We combined this information with secondary cost data and projections of life expectancy to estimate lifetime economic costs of hospitalization by AIS grade in persons aged 35 yr at time of thoracic SCI. Future costs were discounted to present value at 3% annually. RESULTS One year post-injury, mean total annual days of hospitalization ranged from 2.1 for persons with AIS-D injuries to 5.9 for those who were AIS-A. Similar differences were noted 5 and 10 yr post-SCI. The estimated net present value of expected lifetime costs of hospitalization following thoracic SCI at age 35 yr was $321 534, $249 514, $188 989, and $68 120 (2015 US$) for AIS-A, AIS-B, AIS-C, and AIS-D injuries, respectively. CONCLUSION Persons with less severe thoracic SCI, as reflected in AIS grade, spend fewer days in hospital over their lifetimes, leading to lower costs of inpatient care. Therapies improving AIS grade following thoracic SCI may provide cost savings in addition to addressing substantial unmet need.

Antinociception of Heterotopic Electro-Acupuncture Mediated by the Dorsolateral Funiculus

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (02) ◽  
pp. 251-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Jae Lee ◽  
Yeoung Su Lyu ◽  
Hyung Won Kang ◽  
In Churl Sohn ◽  
Sungtae Koo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Endogenous Opioids ◽  
Lumbar Spinal Cord ◽  
Formalin Injection ◽  
Thoracic Spinal Cord ◽  
Inhibitory Pathways ◽  
Thoracic Spinal ◽  
Antinociceptive Effects ◽  
Dorsolateral Funiculus ◽  
Lumbar Spinal

We investigated the inhibitory pathways that mediate the antinociceptive effects of heterotopic electro-acupuncture (EA) on formalin injection-induced pain in rats. EA (2 ms, 10 Hz, 3 mA) was delivered to heterotopic acupoints HT7 and PC7 for 30 min; this was followed immediately by subcutaneous injection of formalin into the left hind paw of rats. Naltrexone (10 mg/kg, i.p.), an opioid receptor antagonist, was administered to evaluate the involvement of endogenous opioids. The dorsolateral funiculus (DLF), which is a descending pathway that inhibits pain, was transected at the ipsilateral T10–11 level of the thoracic spinal cord. EA inhibited behavioral responses to formalin injection-induced pain and prevented the pain-induced increase in cFos expression in the lumbar spinal cord. Pretreatment with naltrexone did not inhibit the antinociceptive effects of EA on formalin injection-induced pain. Transection of the DLF ipsilateral to the acupuncture site eliminated the antinociceptive effects of EA. These results suggest that the antinociceptive effects of heterotopic EA are mediated by the DLF and not by endogenous opioids.

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