[Role of matrix metalloproteinases in regulating neurovascular unit affect the prognosis of chronic compression of spinal cord injury: current status].

Chronic spinal cord compression is the common clinical prognosis with various outcomes, but the affecting factors and mechanisms still remain unexplored. The structure and function of neurovascular unit manifest great significance in the central nervous system diseases. This paper discusses matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) impact on the stability of the neural vascular unit, by directly decomposing extracellular matrix, inducing the glial cell migration, activating angiogenesis, regulating function of blood spinal cord barrier, and put forward the MMP may be the key points in regulation of spinal cord neurovascular unit structure and function change to affect the outcome of chronic oppressive cervical spinal cord.

Immediate inhibition of spinal secretory phospholipase A2 prevents the pain and elevated spinal neuronal hyperexcitability and neuroimmune regulatory genes that develop with nerve root compression.

Cervical nerve root injury induces a host of inflammatory mediators in the spinal cord that initiate and maintain neuronal hyperexcitability and pain. Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) is an enzyme that has been implicated as a mediator of pain onset and maintenance in inflammation and neural injury. Although sPLA2 modulates nociception and excitatory neuronal signaling in vitro, its effects on neuronal activity and central sensitization early after painful nerve root injury are unknown. This study investigated whether inhibiting spinal sPLA2 at the time of nerve root compression (NRC) modulates the pain, dorsal horn hyperexcitability, and spinal genes involved in glutamate signaling, nociception, and inflammation that are seen early after injury. Rats underwent a painful C7 NRC injury with immediate intrathecal administration of the sPLA2 inhibitor thioetheramide-phosphorlycholine. Additional groups underwent either injury alone or sham surgery. One day after injury, behavioral sensitivity, spinal neuronal excitability, and spinal cord gene expression for glutamate receptors (mGluR5 and NR1) and transporters (GLT1 and EAAC1), the neuropeptide substance P, and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL1α, and IL1ß) were assessed. Treatment with the sPLA2 inhibitor prevented mechanical allodynia, attenuated neuronal hyperexcitability in the spinal dorsal horn, restored the proportion of spinal neurons classified as wide dynamic range, and reduced genes for mGluR5, substance P, IL1α, and IL1ß to sham levels. These findings indicate spinal regulation of central sensitization after painful neuropathy and suggest that spinal sPLA2 is implicated in those early spinal mechanisms of neuronal excitability, perhaps via glutamate signaling, neurotransmitters, or inflammatory cascades.

Reduced HO-1 protein expression is associated with more severe neurodegeneration after transient ischemia induced by cortical compression in diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats.

Pronounced hyperglycemia provoked by extradural compression (EC) of the sensorimotor cortex was recently described in the non-insulin dependent Goto-Kakizaki (GK) diabetic rat. Compared with control Wistar rats, GK rats exhibited more extensive brain damage after cortical ischemia at 48 h of reperfusion (Moreira et al, 2007). We hypothesized that the enhanced brain injury in GK rats could be caused by differential regulation of the heme degrading enzyme heme oxygenase (HO)-1, known to interact with the expression of other target genes implicated in antioxidant defense, inflammation and neurodegeneration, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD)-1, -2, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha). At 48 h after ischemia, relative mRNA expression of such target genes was compared between ipsilateral (compressed) and contralateral (uncompressed) hemispheres of GK rats, along with baseline comparison of sham, uncompressed GK and Wistar rats. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect cellular and regional localization of HO-1 at this time point. Baseline expression of HO-1, iNOS, and TNFalpha mRNA was increased in the cortex of sham GK rats. GK rats showed pronounced hyperglycemia during EC and transient attenuation of regional cerebral blood flow recovery. At 48 h after reperfusion, HO-1 mRNA expression was 7- to 8-fold higher in the ischemic cortex of both strains, being the most upregulated gene under study. Heme oxygenase-1 protein expression was significantly reduced in diabetic rats and was found in perilesional astrocytes and rare microglial cells, in both strains. The reduced HO-1 protein expression in GK rats at 48 h after reperfusion combined with more extensive neurodegeneration induced by EC, provides further in vivo evidence for a neuroprotective role of HO after brain ischemia.

Chronic sciatic nerve compression induces fibrosis in dorsal root ganglia.

In the present study, pathological alterations in neurons of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) were investigated in a rat model of chronic sciatic nerve compression. The rat model of chronic sciatic nerve compression was established by placing a 1 cm Silastic tube around the right sciatic nerve. Histological examination was performed via Masson's trichrome staining. DRG injury was assessed using Fluoro Ruby (FR) or Fluoro Gold (FG). The expression levels of target genes were examined using reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. At 3 weeks post­compression, collagen fiber accumulation was observed in the ipsilateral area and, at 8 weeks, excessive collagen formation with muscle atrophy was observed. The collagen volume fraction gradually and significantly increased following sciatic nerve compression. In the model rats, the numbers of FR­labeled DRG neurons were significantly higher, relative to the sham­operated group, however, the numbers of FG­labeled neurons were similar. In the ipsilateral DRG neurons of the model group, the levels of transforming growth factor­ß1 (TGF­ß1) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) were elevated and, surrounding the neurons, the levels of collagen type I were increased, compared with those in the contralateral DRG. In the ipsilateral DRG, chronic nerve compression was associated with significantly higher levels of phosphorylated (p)­extracellular signal­regulated kinase 1/2, and significantly lower levels of p­c­Jun N­terminal kinase and p­p38, compared with those in the contralateral DRGs. Chronic sciatic nerve compression likely induced DRG pathology by upregulating the expression levels of TGF­ß1, CTGF and collagen type I, with involvement of the mitogen­activated protein kinase signaling pathway.

Protein kinase A modulates spontaneous activity in chronically compressed dorsal root ganglion neurons in the rat.

Protein kinase A (PKA) can play a critical role in the modulation of neuronal excitability. We examined the role of PKA in the modulation of abnormal spontaneous activity (SA) originating from the chronically compressed dorsal root ganglion (CCD). The L(4) and L(5) dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) were compressed by inserting a stainless steel rod into each corresponding intervertebral foramen. After 1-14 postoperative days, SA in DRG neurons with myelinated axons was recorded in vitro from teased dorsal root microfilaments. Rp-cAMPS (5-500 microM), a specific inhibitor of PKA, caused a dose-dependent decrease in the discharge rate of SA when topically applied to the DRG. The highest dose completely blocked the SA, but not the conduction of action potentials. H89 (10 microM), another PKA inhibitor, also markedly decreased SA. Sp-cAMPS (500 microM), a specific activator of PKA, increased the discharge rate of SA in all injured units tested, but did not trigger firing in silent neurons. Okadaic acid (0.1 microM), a protein phosphatase inhibitor, and forskolin (1 microM), an adenyl cyclase activator, each significantly increased the discharge rate of SA. These results strongly suggest that PKA modulates the SA in injured DRG neurons with myelinated axons.

Superoxide dismutase activity in cerebrospinal fluid and its relation to compression of the lumbosacral nerve root.

In the pathophysiology of lumbosacral radiculopathy, inflammation of the nerve root is of critical importance. Additionally, free radicals have been shown to be associated with some inflammatory process. This study was designed to investigate whether free radicals participate in the pathophysiology of nerve root involvement. We measured superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 31 patients with unilateral lumbosacral radiculopathy caused by a herniated disc using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry. Then SOD activity was compared with the type of nerve root compression as seen on preoperative myelography. SOD activity in the normal control group was 7U/ml, while that in the hernia group remarkably decreased. The concentration gradient of SOD activity was different between central herniation and centrolateral herniation. Our findings indicate that free radicals are generated after nerve root compression. Under severe deficiency of SOD activity in CSF, serum SOD penetrates into CSF after further compression. In addition, SOD in CSF may play an important role in protecting against nerve root involvement.

Blockade of microglial activation reduces mechanical allodynia in rats with compression of the trigeminal ganglion.

The present study investigated the role of microglia and p38 MAPK in the development of mechanical allodynia in rats with compression of the trigeminal ganglion. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 250-260 g were used. Under pentobarbital sodium anesthesia, the animals were mounted onto a stereotaxic frame and given injections of 4% agar solution (10 µL) to compress the trigeminal ganglion. The air-puff thresholds significantly decreased after compression of the trigeminal ganglion. On postoperative day 14, immunoreactivity to both OX-42 and p-p38 MAPK was up-regulated in the medullary dorsal horn as compared to the sham group. P-p38 MAPK was found to be co-localized with OX-42, but not with NeuN, a neuronal cell marker, or with GFAP, an astroglial cell marker. Intracisternal administration of 100 µg of minocycline significantly inhibited both mechanical allodynia and activation of microglia produced by compression of the trigeminal ganglion. Intracisternal administration of 0.1, 1, or 10 µg of SB203580, a p38 MAPK inhibitor, also significantly decreased mechanical allodynia and p38 MAPK activation in the trigeminal ganglion-compressed group. These results suggest that activation of p38 MAPK in the microglia is an important step in the development of mechanical allodynia in rats with compression of the trigeminal ganglion and that the targeted blockade of microglial p38 MAPK pathway is a potentially important new treatment strategy for trigeminal neuralgia-like nociception.

Optic nerve compression and retinal degeneration in Tcirg1 mutant mice lacking the vacuolar-type H-ATPase a3 subunit.

BACKGROUND: Vacuolar-type proton transporting ATPase (V-ATPase) is involved in the proper development of visual function. Mutations in the Tcirg1 (also known as Atp6V0a3) locus, which encodes the a3 subunit of V-ATPase, cause severe autosomal recessive osteopetrosis (ARO) in humans. ARO is often associated with impaired vision most likely because of nerve compression at the optic canal. We examined the ocular phenotype of mice deficient in Tcirg1 function. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: X-ray microtomography showed narrowed foramina in the skull, suggesting that optic nerve compression occurred in the a3-deficient (Tcirg1-/-) mice. The retina of the mutant mice had normal architecture, but the number of apoptotic cells was increased at 2-3 wks after birth. In the ocular system, the a3 subunit accumulated in the choriocapillary meshwork in uveal tissues. Two other subunit isoforms a1 and a2 accumulated in the retinal photoreceptor layer. We found that the a4 subunit, whose expression has previously been shown to be restricted to several transporting epithelia, was enriched in pigmented epithelial cells of the retina and ciliary bodies. The expression of a4 in the uveal tissue was below the level of detection in wild-type mice, but it was increased in the mutant choriocapillary meshwork, suggesting that compensation may have occurred among the a subunit isoforms in the mutant tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a similar etiology of visual impairment is involved in both humans and mice; thus, a3-deficient mice may provide a suitable model for clinical and diagnostic purposes in cases of ARO.