Objective To investigate the structural changes during the early stage of spinal cord injury,and the relationships between these structural changes and patients' motor recovery.Methods The clinical data of 25 patients with spinal cord injury collected from 2012 October to 2014 March were analyzed retrospectively.The spinal cord injury patients were split into two groups (Good recoverers group and Poor recoverers group) according to the clinical outcome of motor recovery at 6 months follow-up,and there were 10 Good recoverers (ASIA grade:1 A,4 B,3 C,and 2 D) and 15 Poor recoverers (ASIA grade:7 A,3 B,3 C,and 2 D).The study also recruited 25 matched healthy controls.The mean age of Good recoverers,Poor recoverers and healthy controls were 37.9± 13.9,35.8± 11.5 and 36.5±9.3,respectively.Structural MRI was used to investigate the regions with brain structural changes among the three groups.Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the relationships between these structural changes and patients' motor recovery.Results Compared to healthy controls group,both poor recoverers and good recoverers had significantly decreased cortical thickness in the bilateral primary motor cortex.Poor recoverers exhibited more serious and widespread structural damages,in addition to reduced cortical thickness in the primary motor cortex,poor recoverers also showed decreased cortical thickness in the right SMA and premotor cortex when compared to healthy controls.Compared to the healthy controls group,poor recoverers showed reduced white matter volume in the right primary motor cortex and posterior limb of the internal capsule;good recoverers showed no significant difference in white matter microstructure.Furthermore,these structural changes at the internal capsule and primary motor cortex were associated with the motor recovery rate at 6 months follow-up (r=0.75,P＜ 0.001;r=0.76,P＜ 0.001,respectively).Conclusion These findings suggest that spinal cord injury causes significant anatomical changes in the human sensorimotor system in the early phase,and these structural changes directly affect the motor recovery of spinal cord injury.Future treatment aimed at promoting neural function recovery of spinal cord injury patients should pay close attention to the injured brain.

Objective:To observe the influences of Xuenaoxin capsule on the levels of endothelin(ET)and calcitonin gene-related peptide(CGRP)and neurological deficit extent in patients with acute cerebral infarction.Methods:A randomized, positive drug controlled clinical trial design was used,59 cases of acute cerebral infarction with qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome were randomly divided into treatment group(30cases)and control group(29cases).The treatment group was treated with Xuenaoxin capsule,3 times a day,4 pills each time and the control group was treated with Nimodiping,3 times a day,20mg each time.Both groups had 14 days as a treatment course.The changes of levels of endothelin(ET)and calcitonin gene-related peptide(CGRP)in plasma as well as neurological deficit were measured and compared.Results:The plasma ET in treatment group (57.658?14.877)pg/L were significantly lower than those in control group(70.456?17.059)pg/L,but the plasma CGRP(84.404? 8.705)ng/L was higher than that in the control group(78.402?10.699)ng/L on the 14th day.The differences were both significant (P=0.0032,P=0.0213).The results showed that the total effective rate of Xuenaoxin capsule on improving clinical symptoms of patients with acute ischemic stroke was 76.67%and very superior to that of Nimodiping(P=0.0035).Conclusion:Xuenaoxin capsule could reduce neurological deficit extent,and improve the prognosis of patients with acute cerebral infarction by means of regulating ET and CGRP.