中国神经再生研究(英文版) ›› 2018, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (6): 971-976.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.233434

• 综述:脊髓损伤修复保护与再生 • 上一篇    下一篇

性激素对脊髓损伤后脊髓运动神经元的保护作用

  

  • 收稿日期:2018-04-19 出版日期:2018-06-15 发布日期:2018-06-15

Protective effects of gonadal hormones on spinal motoneurons following spinal cord injury

Dale R. Sengelaub1, Xiao-Ming Xu2   

  1. 1 Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
    2 Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
  • Received:2018-04-19 Online:2018-06-15 Published:2018-06-15
  • Contact: Dale R. Sengelaub,sengelau@indiana.edu.
  • Supported by:

     This work was supported by grants from Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Fund (ISCBIRF) and by IU’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research through the Faculty Research Support Program to DRS, and NIH R01 NS103481, R01 NS100531, Department of Veterans Affairs I01 RX002356, I01 BX003705, Craig H Neilsen Foundation 296749, Indiana Department of Health 019919, ISCBIRF, and Mari Hulman George Endowment Fund to XMX.

摘要:

orcid:0000-0002-6166-8632(Dale R. Sengelaub)

Abstract:

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in lesions that destroy tissue and disrupt spinal tracts, producing deficits in locomotor and autonomic function. The majority of treatment strategies after SCI have concentrated on the damaged spinal cord, for example working to reduce lesion size or spread, or encouraging regrowth of severed descending axonal projections through the lesion, hoping to re-establish synaptic connectivity with caudal targets. In our work, we have focused on a novel target for treatment after SCI, surviving spinal motoneurons and their target musculature, with the hope of developing effective treatments to preserve or restore lost function following SCI. We previously demonstrated that motoneurons, and the muscles they innervate, show pronounced atrophy after SCI. Importantly, SCI-induced atrophy of motoneuron dendrites can be attenuated by treatment with gonadal hormones, testosterone and its active metabolites, estradiol and dihydrotestosterone. Similarly, SCI-induced reductions in muscle fiber cross-sectional areas can be prevented by treatment with androgens. Together, these findings suggest that regressive changes in motoneuron and muscle morphology seen after SCI can be ameliorated by treatment with gonadal hormones, further supporting a role for steroid hormones as neurotherapeutic agents in the injured nervous system.

Key words: testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol, steroids, atrophy, neuroprotection, morphology, dendrites, muscle fibers, retrograde labeling