Single vs. Combined Therapeutic Approaches in Rats With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

This study explores ways to help the spinal cord repair itself after an injury. Because the body's natural ability to fix spinal cord damage is limited, the researchers tried different treatments to encourage the nerve fibers to regrow. The researchers tested single and combined treatments on rats with chronic spinal cord injuries. The treatments included using predegenerated peripheral nerve grafts (PPN), bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), and a molecule called chondroitinase ABC (ChABC). The study found that combined treatments, especially PPN with BMSCs and ChABC, were more effective in promoting the regrowth of nerve fibers and improving movement compared to using each treatment alone.

• 1
  Combined treatment groups (PPN + BMSCs and PPN + BMSCs + ChABC) showed significant axonal regrowth, indicated by increased GAP-43 and MAP-1B expression in axonal fibers.
• 2
  Combined treatment groups showed a significantly higher score than the single treatment group in modified BBB scale.
• 3
  Kinematic analysis revealed a significant increase in the amplitude of hindlimb movements in groups treated with PPN grafts alone and with combined treatments in comparison to the control and BMSC groups.