Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Spinal Cord”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Effects of distraction on physiologic integrity of the spinal cord, spinal cord blood flow, and clinical status.

The authors determined the effects of distraction of the spine on physiologic integrity of the spinal cord using neurogenic motor evoked potentials (NMEPs), somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs), spinal cord blood flow measurements, and clinical status in nine hogs. Spinal cord blood flow was measured after each level of distraction using the hydrogen washout technique. The results indicated that blood flow of at least 65% of baseline was required to maintain physiologic integrity of the spinal cord, and that a decrease of blood flow to 12% of baseline was associated with paraplegia. Neurogenic motor evoked potentials always correlated with the animal's postsurgical clinical status, whereas the SEP was falsely negative in one animal.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Pediatric rehabilitation. 3. Disorders of the spinal cord: spinal cord injury, myelodysplasia.

This self-directed learning module provides review and references for the basic concepts of, and highlights new advances in, disorders of the spinal cord in children. It is a section of the chapter on pediatric rehabilitation for the Self-Directed Medical Knowledge Program Study Guide for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation. For spinal cord injury, only data pertinent to the pediatric age group are discussed. Myelodysplasia is presented in detail to include genetic implications, early intervention, long-term management planning, psychosocial impact, and quality-of-life considerations.

Child↗
PubMed2005

Magnetic resonance imaging of neuronal function in the spinal cord: spinal FMRI.

A review of the current literature on magnetic resonance imaging of neuronal function in the spinal cord (spinal fMRI) is presented. The unique challenges of spinal fMRI are identified as being the small cross-sectional dimensions of the spinal cord, magnetic field inhomogeneity caused by the bone and cartilage in the spine, and motion of cerebrospinal fluid, blood, adjacent tissues and organs and of the spinal cord itself. Techniques have been developed to overcome or compensate for these challenges and the result is a fMRI method which is distinct from that used for mapping function in the brain. Evidence that the current spinal fMRI method provides accurate and sensitive maps of neuronal function is also discussed. Studies presented in the literature have demonstrated areas of neuronal activity corresponding with spinal cord neuroanatomy as a result of thermal and electrical stimuli and motor tasks with the hands, arms and legs. Signal intensity changes detected in active areas have also been demonstrated to depend on the intensity of the stimuli with both thermal stimulation and a motor task, providing evidence of the correspondence between spinal fMRI results and neuronal activity in the spinal cord.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Effect of ischemia on acetylcholinesterase activity and its molecular forms in the dog spinal cord, spinal ganglia and sciatic nerve.

Partial ischemia of the spinal cord was produced by the ligature of the abdominal aorta twice for 40 minutes with a 40 min. recirculation interval. At the end of the ischemic period acetylcholinesterase (AChE. EC 3.1.1.7) activity increased significantly in the lumbosacral part of the spinal cord but simultaneously decreased in the spinal ganglia; There was no significant change in the sciatic nerve. After 48 hours of recovery AChE activity returned to normal in the sacral part of the spinal cord and in the spinal ganglia, but a less expressive increase remained in the lumbal part. Electrophoretic separation of AChE on the polyacrylamide gel gave in intact control dogs: three or four molecular forms in the spinal cord, five in the spinal ganglia and two molecular forms in the sciatic nerve. Ischemia increased the relative content of the lower molecular forms and often a new low molecular form appeared.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1981

Androgen target cells in spinal cord, spinal ganglia, and glycogen body of chick embryos. Autoradiographic localization.

After injection of 3H dihydrotestosterone, concentration and retention of radioactivity occur in nuclei of certain neurons in the spinal cord and spinal ganglia as well as in dorsal and ventral root cells of chick embryos at day 10, 12, and 18. Cell of the glycogen body show nuclear labeling at day 12, but not at day 18. In motor neurons in the midlumbar and midbrachial regions in lamina IX and in single neurons in laminae I/II, the nuclear retention of androgen is strongest, but relatively weak in ventral horn cells in thoracic and sacral segments. Neurons with nuclear labeling are also found scattered in other laminae of the dorsal and ventral horns as well as in the lateral column. When unlabeled dihydrotestosterone is administered before 3H dihydrotestosterone, nuclear uptake of radioactivity is prevented, which is not the case, when estradiol is used. The results from these autoradiographic studies indicate the presence of nuclear receptors and suggest androgen effects during prenatal stages of development.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Nuclear and mitochondrial changes of co-cultivated spinal cord, spinal ganglia and muscle fibers following treatment with various doses of zidovudine.

Long-term zidovudine (also termed azidothymidine, AZT) treatment of AIDS patients may cause severe myopathy characterized by conspicuous mitochondrial and nuclear changes. The mitochondrial changes are attributed to an inhibitory effect of AZT on the mitochondrial gamma-polymerase in a variety of cells. Inhibition of the nuclear alpha-polymerase is another well-known side effect of AZT, whereas the (nuclear) beta-polymerase appears to be rather insensitive. The nuclear changes seen in AIDS patients are usually considered secondary to the human immunodeficiency virus infection. To eliminate the influence of the virus on the nuclei, we studied the effect of AZT on non-infected, organotypic co-cultures of spinal ganglia, spinal cord, and skeletal muscle from fetal rats. We noted significant changes not only in the mitochondria but also in the nuclei of spinal ganglia, spinal cord, and muscle cells, which depended more on the duration of AZT application (1, 3, 5, and 8 days) than on the concentration (0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 microM). The alterations of the mitochondria consisted mainly of swelling, loss of cristae and, finally, disappearance. The nuclei showed nucleolar segregation, marginal condensation of heterochromatin, formation of interchromatin and perichromatin granules, nuclear protrusions and pseudoinclusions and, finally, disintegration. The changes were not as pleomorphic as those seen in biopsy specimens from AIDS patients who had received long-term treatment with AZT. However, this difference can easily be attributed to the short duration of drug application in tissue culture compared to the long-term medication in patients.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Distribution of free amino acids in the dog spinal cord, spinal ganglia and ischiadic nerve.

Levels of free amino acids were analysed in the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral spinal cord of dogs. The highest content was in the sacral segment (20.2 mmol/kg wet tissue), next in the cervical (17.0) and in the lumbal segment (16.2). It was lowest in the thoracic segment (15.4). There was no difference in the content of glutamine and alanine in grey matter in comparison to white matter of posterior funicles. In the ventral horns the content of glycine and aspartic acid was markedly higher than in dorsal horns, on the other hand, the dorsal grey matter had a higher concentration of GABA than the ventral part.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2000

Changes in truncated trkB and p75 receptor expression in the rat spinal cord following spinal cord hemisection and spinal cord hemisection plus neurotrophin treatment.

Although numerous studies have examined the effects of neurotrophin treatment following spinal cord injury, few have examined the changes that occur in the neurotrophin receptors following either such damage or neurotrophin treatment. To determine what changes occur in neurotrophin receptor expression following spinal cord damage, adult rats received a midthoracic spinal cord hemisection alone or in combination with intrathecal application of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). Using immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization techniques, p75, trkA, trkB, and trkC receptor expression was examined throughout the spinal cord. Results showed that trkA, full-length trkB, and trkC receptors were not present in the lesion site but had a normal expression pattern in uninjured parts of the spinal cord. In contrast, p75 receptor expression occurred on Schwann cells throughout the lesion site. BDNF and NT-3 (but not saline) applied to the lesion site increased this expression. In addition, the truncated trkB receptor was expressed in the border between the lesion and intact spinal cord. Truncated trkB receptor expression was also increased throughout the white matter ipsilateral to the lesion and BDNF (but not NT-3 or saline) prevented this increase. The study is the first to show changes in truncated trkB receptor expression that extend beyond the site of a spinal cord lesion and is one of the first to show that BDNF and NT-3 affect Schwann cells and/or p75 expression following spinal cord damage. These results indicate that changes in neurotrophin receptor expression following spinal cord injury could influence the availability of neurotrophins at the lesion site. In addition, neurotrophins may affect their own availability to damaged neurons by altering the expression of the p75 and truncated trkB receptor.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Bladder and urethral sphincter responses evoked by microstimulation of S2 sacral spinal cord in spinal cord intact and chronic spinal cord injured cats.

Urinary bladder and urethral sphincter responses evoked by bladder distention, ventral root stimulation, or microstimulation of S2 segment of the sacral spinal cord were investigated under alpha-chloralose anesthesia in cats with an intact spinal cord and in chronic spinal cord injured (SCI) cats 6-8 weeks after spinal cord transection at T9-T10 spinal segment. Both SCI and normal cats exhibited large amplitude reflex bladder contractions when the bladder was fully distended. SCI cats also exhibited hyperreflexic bladder contractions during filling and detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia during voiding, neither was observed in normal cats. Electrical stimulation of the ventral roots revealed that the S2 sacral spinal cord was the most effective segment for evoking large amplitude bladder contractions or voiding in both types of cats. Microstimulation with a stimulus intensity of 100 microA and duration of 30-60 s via a single microelectrode in the S2 lateral ventral horn or ventral funiculus evoked large amplitude bladder contractions with small urethral contractions in both normal and SCI cats. However, this stimulation evoked incomplete voiding due to either co-activation of the urethral sphincter or detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia. Stimulation in the S2 dorsal horn evoked large amplitude sphincter responses. The effectiveness of spinal cord microstimulation with a single electrode to induce prominent bladder and urethral sphincter responses in SCI animals demonstrates the potential for using microstimulation techniques to modulate lower urinary tract function in patients with neurogenic voiding dysfunctions.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Changes of intracellular calcium and the correlation with functional damage of the spinal cord after spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: To observe dynamic changes of intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)]i) after spinal cord injury, and to study the relationship between the changes of [Ca(2+)]i and the functional damage of the spinal cord. METHODS: The rats were subjected to a spinal cord contusion by using a modified Allen's method. The [Ca(2+)]i in the injured segment of the spinal cord was measured by the technique of La(3+) blockage and atomic absorption spectroscopy at 1, 4, 8, 24, 72, and 168 hours after injury. The motor function on the inclined plane was measured at the same time. RESULTS: The spinal cord [Ca(2+)]i increased significantly (P<0.05 or P<0.01) aft er spinal cord injury. There was a significant correlation (P<0.05) between the changes of [Ca(2+)]i and the motor function. CONCLUSIONS: [Ca(2+)]i overload may play an important role in the pathogenesis of spinal cord injury.

Animals↗