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Chronic Stress and Gonadectomy Affect the Expression of Cx37, Cx40 and Cx43 in the Spinal Cord. Life (Basel) 2021; 11:life11121330. [PMID: 34947861 PMCID: PMC8706389 DOI: 10.3390/life11121330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The study aimed to determine whether the exposure to chronic stress and/or performance of gonadectomy might lead to disturbance in the expression of connexin (Cx) 37, 40 and 43 in the spinal cord (SC), as a potential explanation for sex differences in stress-related chronic pain conditions. After the rats were sham-operated or gonadectomized, three 10-day sessions of sham or chronic stress were applied. Immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to examine Cx localization and expression in the SC. The gonadectomy resulted in an increase of Cx37 expression in the dorsal horn (DH) of the female rats, but chronic stress suppressed the effects of castration. In male rats, only the combined effects of castration and chronic stress increased Cx37 expression. The influence of chronic stress on the DH Cx40 expression was inversely evident after the castration: increased in the ovariectomized female rats, while decreased in the orchidectomized male rats. We did not find any effect of chronic stress and castration, alone or together, on Cx43 expression in the DH, but the percentage of Cx43 overlapping the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (gfap) increased in the male stressed group after the castration. In conclusion, the association of the chronic stress with sex hormone depletion results in disturbances of the SC Cx expression and might be a possible mechanism of disturbed pain perception after chronic stress exposure.
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Epidural Stimulation Combined with Triple Gene Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury Treatment. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21238896. [PMID: 33255323 PMCID: PMC7734573 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21238896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The translation of new therapies for spinal cord injury to clinical trials can be facilitated with large animal models close in morpho-physiological scale to humans. Here, we report functional restoration and morphological reorganization after spinal contusion in pigs, following a combined treatment of locomotor training facilitated with epidural electrical stimulation (EES) and cell-mediated triple gene therapy with umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells overexpressing recombinant vascular endothelial growth factor, glial-derived neurotrophic factor, and neural cell adhesion molecule. Preliminary results obtained on a small sample of pigs 2 months after spinal contusion revealed the difference in post-traumatic spinal cord outcomes in control and treated animals. In treated pigs, motor performance was enabled by EES and the corresponding morpho-functional changes in hind limb skeletal muscles were accompanied by the reorganization of the glial cell, the reaction of stress cell, and synaptic proteins. Our data demonstrate effects of combined EES-facilitated motor training and cell-mediated triple gene therapy after spinal contusion in large animals, informing a background for further animal studies and clinical translation.
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Fadeev F, Eremeev A, Bashirov F, Shevchenko R, Izmailov A, Markosyan V, Sokolov M, Kalistratova J, Khalitova A, Garifulin R, Islamov R, Lavrov I. Combined Supra- and Sub-Lesional Epidural Electrical Stimulation for Restoration of the Motor Functions after Spinal Cord Injury in Mini Pigs. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10100744. [PMID: 33081405 PMCID: PMC7650717 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10100744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
This study evaluates the effect of combined epidural electrical stimulation (EES) applied above (C5) and below (L2) the spinal cord injury (SCI) at T8–9 combined with motor training on the restoration of sensorimotor function in mini pigs. The motor evoked potentials (MEP) induced by EES applied at C5 and L2 levels were recorded in soleus muscles before and two weeks after SCI. EES treatment started two weeks after SCI and continued for 6 weeks led to improvement in multiple metrics, including behavioral, electrophysiological, and joint kinematics outcomes. In control animals after SCI a multiphasic M-response was observed during M/H-response testing, while animals received EES-enable training demonstrated the restoration of the M-response and H-reflex, although at a lower amplitude. The joint kinematic and assessment with Porcine Thoracic Injury Behavior scale (PTIBS) motor recovery scale demonstrated improvement in animals that received EES-enable training compared to animals with no treatment. The positive effect of two-level (cervical and lumbar) epidural electrical stimulation on functional restoration in mini pigs following spinal cord contusion injury in mini pigs could be related with facilitation of spinal circuitry at both levels and activation of multisegmental coordination. This approach can be taken as a basis for the future development of neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation therapy for patients with spinal cord injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filip Fadeev
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Anton Eremeev
- Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia;
| | - Farid Bashirov
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Roman Shevchenko
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Andrei Izmailov
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Vage Markosyan
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Mikhail Sokolov
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Julia Kalistratova
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Anastasiia Khalitova
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Ravil Garifulin
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
| | - Rustem Islamov
- Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, 420012 Kazan, Russia; (F.F.); (F.B.); (R.S.); (A.I.); (V.M.); (M.S.); (J.K.); (A.K.); (R.G.)
- Correspondence: (R.I.); (I.L.)
| | - Igor Lavrov
- Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia;
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
- Correspondence: (R.I.); (I.L.)
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