Abstract
Study design
This was an animal study.
Objectives
Local inflammation is attenuated below high thoracic SCI, where innervation of major lymphoid organs is involved. However, whether inflammatory responses are affected after low thoracic SCI, remains undetermined. The aim of this study was to characterize the influence of low thoracic SCI on carrageenan-induced paw swelling in intact and paralyzed limbs, at acute and subacute stages.
Setting
University and hospital-based research center, Mexico City, Mexico.
Methods
Rats received a severe contusive SCI at T9 spinal level or sham injury. Then, 1 and 15 days after lesion, carrageenan or vehicle was subcutaneously injected in forelimb and hindlimb paws. Paw swelling was measured over a 6-h period using a plethysmometer.
Results
Swelling increased progressively reaching the maximum 6 h post-carrageenan injection. Swelling increase in sham-injured rats was approximately 130% and 70% compared with baseline values of forelimbs and hindlimbs, respectively. Paws injected with saline exhibited no measurable swelling. Carrageenan-induced paw swelling 1-day post-SCI was suppressed in both intact and paralyzed limbs. Fifteen days post-injury, the swelling response to carrageenan was completely reestablished in forelimbs, whereas in hindlimbs it remained significantly attenuated compared with sham-injured rats.
Conclusions
SCI at low spinal level affects the induced swelling response in a different way depending on both, the neurological status of challenged regions and the stage of injury. These findings suggest that neurological compromise of the main immunological organs is not a prerequisite for the local swelling response to be affected after injury.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Angelina Martinez-Cruz for her invaluable technical assistance with spine surgery.
Funding
AR-C received a fellowship grant (number 378379) from the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT, http://www.conacyt.mx/pci/index.php) to support her doctoral studies.
Author contributions
AR-C was responsible for design of methodology, writing the protocol, performing the experimental procedures, collecting and analyzing data, interpreting results, and writing original draft. LC-A was responsible for design of methodology, management and coordination of research activity, planning, and execution, as well as analysis and interpretation of data. GC-H was responsible for conception and design of the study, providing study materials, animals, and analysis tools, analysis and interpretation of data, writing original draft, and presentation of the critically revised work. LF-P was responsible for oversight and leadership the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team, and analysis and interpretation of data. GG-S was responsible for conception and design of the study, review of the protocol, analysis and interpretation of data, writing original draft, and presentation of the critically revised work. All authors revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Rodríguez-Cal y Mayor, A., Cruz-Antonio, L., Castañeda-Hernández, G. et al. Time-dependent changes in paw carrageenan-induced inflammation above and below the level of low thoracic spinal cord injury in rats. Spinal Cord 56, 964–970 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-018-0144-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-018-0144-5
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