Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2017
Inter-rater Reliability of the International Standards to Document Remaining Autonomic Function following Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI).
The autonomic nervous system can be profoundly affected after spinal cord injury (SCI). Despite its importance to quality of life, autonomic function is rarely systematically assessed in the clinical setting. The International Standards to Document Remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI) is an assessment designed to determine which autonomic functions are intact, impaired, or lost after SCI. ⋯ Inter-rater reliability within the general autonomic component was moderate with kappa values ranging 0.41-0.6 (p < 0.05). Within the Lower Urinary Tract, Bowel, and Sexual Function component, agreement was good-strong with weighted kappa values 0.62-0.88 (p < 0.05). Given the results, we conclude that the ISAFSCI can be considered to have at least moderate and up to strong inter-rater reliability, especially in the bladder, bowel, and sexual function component of the assessment.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2017
Clinical Trial Observational StudyCerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers to Stratify Injury Severity and Predict Outcome in Human Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.
Neurologic impairment after spinal cord injury (SCI) is currently measured and classified by functional examination. Biological markers that objectively classify injury severity and predict outcome would greatly facilitate efforts to evaluate acute SCI therapies. The purpose of this study was to determine how well inflammatory and structural proteins within the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of acute traumatic SCI patients predicted American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade conversion and motor score improvement over 6 months. ⋯ Motor score improvement also was strongly correlated with the 24-h post-injury CSF levels of all six biomarkers. The analysis of CSF can provide valuable biological information about injury severity and recovery potential after acute SCI. Such biological markers may be valuable tools for stratifying individuals in acute clinical trials where variability in spontaneous recovery requires large recruitment cohorts for sufficient power.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2017
Predicting recruitment feasibility for acute spinal cord injury clinical trials in Canada using national registry data.
Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) represents a significant burden of illness, but it is relatively uncommon and heterogeneous, making it challenging to achieve sufficient subject enrollment in clinical trials of therapeutic interventions for acute SCI. The Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR) is a national SCI Registry that enters patients with SCI from acute-care centers across Canada. To predict the feasibility of conducting clinical trials of acute SCI within Canada, we have applied the inclusion/exclusion criteria of six previously conducted SCI trials to the RHSCIR data set and generated estimates of how many Canadian persons would have been eligible theoretically for enrollment in these studies. ⋯ Projected annual numbers of eligible patients for each trial were: Minocycline, 117; Riluzole, 62; STASCIS, 109; Cethrin, 101; NOGO, 82; and Sygen, 70. An additional 8.0% of the sample had a major head injury (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score ≤12) and would have been excluded from the trials. RHSCIR provides a comprehensive national data set that may serve as a useful tool in the planning of multicenter clinical SCI trials.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2017
Spinal Cord Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analysis after Excitotoxic Injection Injury Model of Syringomyelia.
Syringomyelia is a condition of the spinal cord in which a syrinx, or fluid-filled cavity, forms from trauma, malformation, or general disorder. Previous work has shown that in noncanalicular syringomyelia irregular flow and pressure conditions enhance the volumetric growth of syrinxes. A better understanding of the underlying molecular pathways associated with syrinx formation will unveil targets for treatments and possibly prevention of syringomyelia in the future. ⋯ Although transcriptional changes indicated gliosis and loss of neurons, no neuropathic pain was detected by von Frey allodynia testing. Unique transporters were revealed to be highly dysregulated, including significant increases in betaine/glycine transporter (BGT-1), K+/Cl- co-transporter (KCC4), and aquaporin 1 (AQP1), along with the upregulation of small molecule osmolytes taurine and betaine. The identified metabolites are of particular interest because of their involvement in osmotic homeostasis and need to be investigated further for their specific involvement in trauma-induced syrinxes.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2017
A Morphological and Molecular Characterization of the Spinal Cord Following Ventral Root Avulsion or Distal Peripheral Nerve Axotomy Injuries in Adult Rats.
Retrograde cell death in sensory dorsal root ganglion cells following peripheral nerve injury is well established. However, available data regarding the underlying mechanism behind injury induced motoneuron death are conflicting. By comparing morphological and molecular changes in spinal motoneurons after L4-L5 ventral root avulsion (VRA) and distal peripheral nerve axotomy (PNA) 7 and 14 days postoperatively, we aimed to gain more insight about the mechanism behind injury-induced motoneuron degeneration. ⋯ Moreover, the altered gene expression correlated with protein changes. These results show that the spinal motoneurons reacted in a similar fashion with respect to morphological changes after both proximal and distal injury. However, the increased expression of caspase-3, caspase-8, and related death receptors after VRA suggest that injury- induced motoneuron degeneration is mediated through an apoptotic mechanism, which might involve both the intrinsic and the extrinsic pathways.