Intermittent Hypoxia Elicits Prolonged Restoration of Motor Function in Human SCI
Abstract
At the University of Wisconsin, considerable progress was made in the first year of this award. The fundamental goal in Wisconsin is to test the hypothesis that repetitive intermittent hypoxia combined with treadmill training significantly increases protein expression of proteins associated with spinal motor plasticity (BDNF and its high affinity receptor, TrkB). These assessments will complement behavioral data collected at the University of Saskatchewan, and parallel similar experiments in humans with SCI at Emory University and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. In the first year: 1) animal protocol approval (ACURO) was obtained; and 2) rat groups were treated and perfused for immunohistochemical analyses. Five treatments were performed in rats with/without cervical injuries: 1) shelf controls; 2) sham; 3) daily treadmill training for five days; 4) intermittent hypoxia for five days; and 5) combined intermittent hypoxia and treadmill training. Groups were collected at six time points, to determine the duration of changes in protein expression. In the next year, immunohistochemical analyses will be completed and densitometry analyses performed in anticipation of combining our results with parallel behavioral studies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA554976
Entities
People
- Gordon S. Mitchell
Organizations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison