Chapter category: Tissue Engineering
Recovery of Lost Spinal Cord Function by Facilitating the Spinal Cord Circuits Below the Lesion
Transplantation of Neural Tissue into the Spinal Cord, Second Edition
Edited by: Antal NogradiISBN: 0-387-26355-1
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Chapter authors:
Urszula Slawinska
In the previous Chapter strategies that effort to restore the lost function after spinal cord injury a) by attempting to reconnect anatomically the separated parts of the spinal cord by encouraging regeneration of axons across the damaged parts of the spinal cord; b) by providing grafts that would act as “relays”; c) replacing specific populations of cells that may have been damaged during the injury were reviewed. Another approach that would use the neural circuitry below the lesion and encourage its function has been little explored. First attempt to enhance the activity of spinal cord circuitry below lesion was using the systemic administration of agonists of monoamines that modified locomotor performance of paraplegic cats.1-3 The other strategy that could be used for inducing the enhancement of the activity of the neural spinal cord circuitry below the lesion is intraspinal grafting of embryonic neurons of supraspinal origin. Selected embryonic neurons can be grafted in order to replace missing supraspinal input after complete spinal cord transection. Among these supraspinal inputs, serotoninergic projection from raphe neurons and noradrenergic projection from locus coeruleus have been extensively studied during the last three decades. The present chapter will review findings that introduced the promising grafting strategy to enhance the restoration of some function (like hindlimb locomotor movement or sexual reflexes) which are dramatically altered after complete spinal cord transection in rats.
Additional chapters from this book:
Replacement of Specific Populations of Cells: Glial Cell Transplantation into the Spinal Cord
Antal Nogradi
In recent years an increasing number of results of successful spinal cord transplantation has been reported. Apart from theoretical interest the main aim of these experiments was to find a possible ...
Encouraging Regeneration of Host Neurones: The Use of Peripheral Nerve Bridges, Glial Cells or Biomaterials
Antal Nogradi
Recent results challenged the dogma that regeneration of CNS axons is impossible. These findings stimulated the interest of experimental neurobiologists and led to research that improved our underst...
Replacement of Specific Neuronal Populations in the Spinal Cord
Antal Nogradi
As discussed in Chapter 5, embryonic spinal cord grafted into the injured spinal cord of neonatal and adult animals can serve as a relay tissue bridge for axonal growth and regeneration, and promote...
Anatomy and Physiology of the Spinal Cord
Antal Nogradi amd Gerta Vrbovi
The spinal cord is part of the central nervous system (CNS), which extends caudally and is protected by the bony structures of the vertebral column. It is covered by the three membranes of the CNS, ...
Recovery of Function After Spinal Cord Injury
Gavin Clowry and Urszula Slawinska
Injuries to the spinal cord can produce variable deficits in movement, sensation and auto nomic function. In humans and other primates sudden transection of the cord results initially in a state kno...
Recovery of Lost Spinal Cord Function by Facilitating the Spinal Cord Circuits Below the Lesion
Urszula Slawinska
In the previous Chapter strategies that effort to restore the lost function after spinal cord injury a) by attempting to reconnect anatomically the separated parts of the spinal cord by encouraging ...
Encouraging Regeneration of Host Neurones: Transplantation of Neural Tissues into the Injured Spinal Cord Grafts of Embryonic Neural Tissue
Gerta Vrbová
Traumatic injury to the spinal cord causes disruption of the long descending and ascend- ing pathways, degeneration of neurones in the lesioned area and destruction of the intrinsic spinal connec...
Encouraging Regeneration of Host Neurones: The Use of Peripheral Nerve Bridges, Glial Cells or Biomaterials
Antal Nógrádi
Recent results challenged the dogma that regeneration of CNS axons is impossible. These findings stimulated the interest of experimental neurobiologists and led to re- search that improved our un...
