2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Reaction of astrocytes and nerve axons during repair of spinal cord injury
| Project/Area Number |
12832028
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Institution | HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
KAJIHARA Hiroki Faculty of Medicine, Hiroshima University, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (20034184)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TSUTSUMI Eriko Faculty of Medicine, Hiroshima University, Reseaech Assistant, 医学部, 助手 (40304422)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2001
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| Keywords | spinal cord injury / glia cells / serotonergic nerve fiber / cross over fiber / tracer of axonal flow / Blood Brain Barrier |
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| Research Abstract |
To investigate the mechanism of locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury, adult male rats were subjected to spinal cord hemisection (Th7-9). A sign of movement of paralytic hindlimb appeared at 7 days after the hemisection. The locomotor function was gradually recovered thereafter, and the animals subjected to spinal cord injury were able to walk at 3 weeks after operation. In the histological and immunohistochemical observations, astrocytes located near the injured area were activated and increased in number. Elongated cytoplasmic processes of the astrocytes accumulated in the marginal zone of the injured area after 3 weeks. Serotonergic nerve fibers disappeared under the injured level at 7 days after operation. However, the serotonergic nerve fibers appeared after 2 weeks.
Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Peroxidase (WG-HRP) was used as a tracer of axonal regeneration. The WG-HRP injected under the level of injured area was found in the neurons of contralateral raphe nuclei.
These findings described above indicate that contralateral serotonergic nerve axons sprout and cross over the cord to compensate the locomotor function of injured site.
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