Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2015, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (10): 1533-1536.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.165213

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Does being female provide a neuroprotective advantage following spinal cord injury?

Jeffrey P. Datto1, Jackie Yang1, W. Dalton Dietrich1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Damien D. Pearse1, 2, 5, 6, *   

  1. 1 The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
    2 The Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
    3 The Department of Neurology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
    4 The Department of Cell Biology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
    5 The Neuroscience Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
    6 The Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
  • Received:2015-07-25 Online:2015-10-28 Published:2015-10-28
  • Contact: Damien D. Pearse, Ph.D.,DPearse@med.miami.edu.
  • Supported by:

    Research was supported by CDMRP SCIRP Award No. W81XWH-10-1-0793, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and The Buoniconti Fund.

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Abstract:

It has been controversial whether gender has any effect on recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). Past experimental and clinical research aimed at addressing this subject has led to constrasting
findings on whether females hold any advantage in locomotor recovery. Additionally, for studies supporting the notion of a female gender related advantage, a definite cause has not been explained. In a recent study, using large sample sizes for comparative male and female spinal cord injury cohorts, we reported that a significant gender advantage favoring females existed in both tissue preservation and functional recovery after taking into consideration discrepancies in age and weight of the animals across sexes. Prior animal research frequently used sample sizes that were too small to determine significance with certainty and also did not account for two other factors that influence locomotor performance: age and weight. Our finding is important in light of controversy surrounding the effect of gender on outcome and the fact that SCI affects more than ten thousand new individuals annually, a population that is disproportionately male. By deepening our understanding of why a gender advantage exists, potential new therapeutics can be designed to improve recovery for the male population following the initial trauma or putatively
augment the neuroprotective privilege in females for enhanced outcomes.

Key words: sex, gender, hormone, neuroprotection, estrogen, progesterone, apoptosis, Schwann cell