Comparison of three different time points of starting treadmill training in spinal cord injured rats.

OBJECTIVE: It has been widely acknowledged that early treadmill training plays an important role in rewiring neurons in a functionally meaningful manner in spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment. However, it is still unclear how early to start treadmill training to obtain the most efficacious results after SCI. The purpose of this study was to find the earliest time point when treadmill training was most effective in rewiring neurons. METHODS: The rats were randomly divided into five groups: a sham group, control group, and three treadmill groups based on training start time post-injury: a 24 h group, 48 h group, and 72 h group. RESULTS: The results revealed that in the 72 h group, Basso, Beattie, and Bresnaham scores increased and apoptotic cells decreased significantly compared to the other groups. There were no statistically differences in neuron counting and 5-bromo-2V-deoxyuridine assays between the groups. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that the best start time for treadmill training is 72 h after SCI.