Functional regeneration of respiratory pathways after spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) often disrupt breathing by damaging pathways to the diaphragm. This study explores methods to restore respiratory function after cervical SCI, focusing on promoting plasticity and regeneration of nerve fibers. The research demonstrates that digesting inhibitory molecules around phrenic motor neurons with Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), combined with a peripheral nerve autograft, encourages nerve regeneration and improves diaphragm function. After successful nerve regeneration and subsequent transection of the nerve bridge, the diaphragm showed increased activity followed by complete cessation upon bridge transection, confirming the critical role of nerve regeneration in restoring function.

• 1
  ChABC treatment alone promotes plasticity of spared tracts and restores limited activity to the paralyzed diaphragm.
• 2
  Combining ChABC with a peripheral nerve autograft leads to lengthy regeneration of serotonergic axons and significant recovery of diaphragm function.
• 3
  Transection of the regenerated nerve bridge results in an initial increase in tonic diaphragmatic EMG activity, followed by complete loss of restored activity, underscoring the importance of regeneration.