Ang‑(1–7)/MasR axis promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury by regulating microglia/macrophage polarization

Spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to inflammation, which can worsen the damage. This study explores whether activating a specific pathway, the Ang-(1–7)/MasR axis, can help reduce inflammation and improve recovery after SCI. The Ang-(1–7)/MasR axis is a naturally occurring system in the body that can regulate inflammation. The study found that activating this pathway in rats with SCI helped to reduce inflammation and promote the polarization of immune cells (microglia/macrophages) towards a healing type (M2 phenotype). By reducing inflammation and promoting M2 polarization, activating the Ang-(1–7)/MasR axis led to better functional recovery in rats with SCI. This suggests that targeting this pathway could be a potential treatment strategy for SCI.

• 1
  Ang-(1–7) up-regulated MasR expression in macrophages under inflammatory conditions, suggesting it can play a larger role in macrophages expressing MasR under inflammatory conditions.
• 2
  Ang-(1–7) regulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines by down-regulating proinflammatory cytokines and up-regulating anti-inflammatory cytokines, biasing microglia/macrophages to the M2 phenotype.
• 3
  Activating the Ang-(1–7) /MasR axis leads to better functional recovery in rats after SCI and that the MasR pathway plays an important role in the functional recovery produced by Ang-(1–7) action.