Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) may cause structural alterations in brain due to pathophysiological processes, but the effects of SCI treatment on brain have rarely been reported. Here, voxel-based morphometry is employed to investigate the effects of SCI and neurotrophin-3 (NT3) coupled chitosan-induced regeneration on brain and spinal cord structures in rhesus monkeys. Possible association between brain and spinal cord structural alterations is explored. The pain sensitivity and stepping ability of animals are collected to evaluate sensorimotor functional alterations. Compared with SCI, the unique effects of NT3 treatment on brain structure appear in extensive regions which involved in motor control and neuropathic pain, such as right visual cortex, superior parietal lobule, left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, insula, secondary somatosensory cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral caudate nucleus. Particularly, the structure of insula is significantly correlated with the pain sensitivity. Regenerative treatment also shows a protective effect on spinal cord structure. The associations between brain and spinal cord structural alterations are observed in right primary somatosensory cortex, SFG, and other regions. These results help further elucidate secondary effects on brain of SCI and provide a basis for evaluating the effects of NT3 treatment on brain structure.

Details

Title
NT3 treatment alters spinal cord injury-induced changes in the gray matter volume of rhesus monkey cortex
Author
Shu-Sheng, Bao 1 ; Zhao, Can 2 ; Hao-Wei, Chen 1 ; Feng, Ting 1 ; Xiao-Jun, Guo 1 ; Xu, Meng 3 ; Jia-Sheng, Rao 1 

 Beihang University, Beijing Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Neural Regeneration, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.64939.31) (ISNI:0000 0000 9999 1211) 
 China Rehabilitation Science Institute, Institute of Rehabilitation Engineering, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.64939.31); Capital Medical University, School of Rehabilitation, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.24696.3f) (ISNI:0000 0004 0369 153X) 
 The First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Department of Orthopedics, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.414252.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 1761 8894) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2648333494
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.