OBJECTIVE: To calculate the colonic transit time (CTT) and to evaluate the effect of combined therapy of cisapride and lactulose on neurogenic bowel dysfunction in patients with chronic spinal cord injury. METHOD: This study was prospectively designed. Right (rCTT), left (lCTT), rectosigmoid (rsCTT), and total (tCTT) colonic transit times were measured using the radio-opaque marker technique in twenty patients with spinal cord injury (SCI group), of which mean age was 39 years (range: 13~67 years) and median duration after SCI was 15 months (4-252 months). Ten ambulatory stroke patients (mean age 49 years, median duration, 12 months) were also evaluated as control group. All CTTs in both groups were compared by unpaired Student's t-test. In SCI group, the therapeutic effect of combined administration of cisapride (10 mg p.o. t.i.d) and lactulose (134.0 g/100 ml, 30-45 ml per day p.o.) was statistically analyzed by paired Student's t-test. RESULTS: Total (p<0.0001) and segmental CTT (p<0.01) except right colon were significantly delayed in SCI group when compared to the control group. In SCI group, tCTT of non-ambulatory patients (n=13) and rCTT, lCTT, rsCTT and total CTT of ambulatory patients (n=7) were significantly decreased after the combined drug therapy (p<0.05). In ambulatory SCI patients, duration after injury showed negative correlation with tCTT (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = 0.8407, p=0.0178). CONCLUSION: Combined therapy of cisapride and lactulose can improve tCTT in SCI patients with neurogenic bowel dysfunction.
Cisapride* ; Colon ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Lactulose* ; Neurogenic Bowel* ; Prospective Studies ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Stroke

Spinal cord injuries include original injury and secondary injury. The aim of therapy is to prevent and reduce the secondary injury. The traditional therapy can alleviate the secondary injury of spinal cord through surgery that can both relieve the pressure of spinal cord and maintain the spinal stability with the internal fixation, medicine and hyperbaric oxygen therapy were applied together. But, the effect of neuroprotection and neurotization of traditional therapy is worse and the most of all is the environment in the spinal cord injury that make against the repairing. At present, the treatment of spinal cord injury with cell transplantation and gene therapy have made achievements in the animal experiment and have been simply tested in clinical. Cell transplantation and gene therapy have a great clinical utilization.
Cell Transplantation ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; Oxygen ; therapeutic use ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; drug therapy ; genetics ; surgery ; therapy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of cytosolic phospholipase A2(cPLA2) inhibitor to improve neurological function after spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: Thirty-six 3 months old female SD rats, with body mass (280±20) g, were divided into three groups (n=12):sham group, SCI group, and SCI+ arachidonyl trifluoromethyl ketone(AACOCF3) group. Balloon compression SCI model was established in all three groups. In the sham model group, the spinal cord compression model was created after the balloon was placed without pressure treatment, and the remaining two groups were pressurized with the balloon for 48 h. After successful modeling, rats in the SCI+AACOCF3 group were injected intraperitoneally with AACOCF3, a specific inhibitor of cPLA2. The remaining two groups of rats were injected intraperitoneally with saline. The animals were sacrificed in batches on 7 and 14 days after modeling, respectively. And the damaged spinal cord tissues were sampled for pathomorphological observation, to detect the expression of cPLA2 and various autophagic fluxPrelated molecules and test the recovery of motor function. RESULTS: Spinal cord histomorphometry examination showed that the spinal cord tissue in the sham group was structurally intact, with normal numbers and morphology of neurons and glial cells. In the SCI group, spinal cord tissue fractures with large and prominent spinal cord cavities were seen. In the SCI+AACOCF3 group, the spinal cord tissue was more intact than in the SCI group, with more fused spinal cord cavities, more surviving neurons, and less glial cell hyperplasia. Western blot showed that the sham group had the lowest protein expression of LC3-Ⅱ, Beclin 1, p62, and cPLA2 compared with the SCI and SCI+AACOCF3 groups (P<0.05) and the highest protein expression of LC3-Ⅰ (P<0.05). P62 and cPLA2 expression in the SCI group were higher than in the SCI+AACOCF3 group (P<0.05). Behavioral observations showed that the time corresponding to BBB exercise scores was significantly lower in both the SCI and SCI+AACOCF3 groups than in the sham group (P<0.05). Scores at 3, 7, and 14 days after pressurization were higher in the SCI+AACOCF3 group than in the SCI group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION cPLA2 inhibitors can reduce neuronal damage secondary to SCI, promote neurological recovery and improve motor function by improving lysosomal membrane permeability and regulating autophagic flux.
Female ; Animals ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Neuroprotective Agents/pharmacology* ; Spinal Cord Injuries/drug therapy* ; Spinal Cord Compression

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effect of antler polypeptide on the rats with spinal cord injury (SCI).

METHODSThe model rats were treated with different doses of antler polypeptide, and its effect on motor function, ethology and pathological changes of spinal cord of the rats observed.

RESULTSSeven days after treatment with different doses of antler polypeptide, rat's motor activity was recovered in some extent. Significant difference (P < 0.001)was found between the antler polypeptide treatment group and operation group. The effect could be enhanced by increase of the doses. We observerd the effect on the pathological change of spinal cord in rat, and found the tissue edema and inflammatory infiltration were relieved after treatment with different doses of antler polypeptide, especially in the dose of 15 mg antler polypeptide.

CONCLUSIONAntler polypeptide can promote the motor function recovery in SCI rats, and its action is dose-dependent.

Animals ; Antlers ; chemistry ; Male ; Peptides ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Spinal Cord ; pathology ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; drug therapy ; pathology

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of captopril comparing with nifedipine for management of hypertensive urgencies in autonomic dysreflexia in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHOD: Twenty-four patients with SCI above T6 were documented and treated with drug therapy in this study whose systolic blood pressure (SBP) was at or above 150 mmHg despite the use of nondrug management during an autonomic dysreflexia episode. They were divided into two groups; captopril group (n=12) and nifedipine group (n= 12). Captopril group was administered captopril 25 mg sublingually and nifedipine group was administered nifedipine 10 mg sublingually. Diastolic blood pressure(DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate and side effects were monitored after administration. RESULTS: Mean DBP and SBP at baseline and 15, 30, 60 minutes after captopril were significantly decreased (p<0.05). There were no significant side effects such as reactive hypotension. The administration of nifedipine also successfully reduced mean SBP and DBP after 15, 30, 60 minutes (p<0.05), but some side effects were reported such as reactive hypotension, tarchycardia and headache. CONCLUSION: For the management of hypertension in autonomic dysreflexia, captopril appears to be one of the safe and effective methods in patients with SCI.
Autonomic Dysreflexia* ; Blood Pressure ; Captopril* ; Drug Therapy ; Headache ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypotension ; Nifedipine ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

With the increasing progress to know spinal cord injury (SCI) in experimental and clinical study and the confirming clinical effect to treat SCI with early methylprednisolone in ninety decade of 20th century, the mechanism of methylprednisolone therapy is understood continuously. Based on them above, a lot of new drugs are found effective for SCI. We want to give a review about it.
Animals ; Drug Discovery ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; drug therapy

Recent clinical trials have reported that methylprednisolone sodium succinate administered within 8 hours improves neurological recovery in human spinal cord injury (SCI). Methylprednisolone, however, was ineffective and possibly even deleterious when given more than 8 hours after injury. This finding suggests that a therapeutic time window exists in spinal cord injury. In order to determine the doses, durations and timing of methylprednisolone treatment for optimal neuroprotection, a single or two bolus dose of methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg) was administered at 10, 30, 120, 150 and 240 min. after three graded spinal cord injury. The primary outcome measure was 24-hour spinal cord lesion volumes estimated from spinal cord Na+ and K+ shifts. A single 30 mg/kg dose of methylprednisolone at 10 min. after injury significantly reduced 24-hour lesion volumes in injured rat spinal cords. However, any other methylprednisolone treatment starting 30 min. or more after injury had no effect on 24-hour lesion volumes compared to the vehicle control group. Moreover, delayed treatment increased lesion volumes in some cases. These results suggest that the NYU SCI model has a very short therapeutic window.
Animal ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Male ; Methylprednisolone Hemisuccinate/therapeutic use ; Methylprednisolone Hemisuccinate/administration & dosage* ; Neuroprotective Agents/therapeutic use ; Neuroprotective Agents/administration & dosage* ; Rats ; Rats, Long-Evans ; Spinal Cord/pathology ; Spinal Cord Injuries/pathology ; Spinal Cord Injuries/drug therapy*

Spinal cord injury is a serious disabling disease caused by a series of internal and external factors in the field of orthopaedics and neuroscience, which is a big problem for doctors all over the world. Lithium has been used to treat dipolar disorder for over 100 years. It has been reported that lithium is benefit for brain neuron. The treatment effect for spinal cord injury gets more and more attention. Researches indicate that lithium is benefit for spinal cord injury by protecting neuron,reducing after-injury inflammation increasing the produce and release of neurotrophins, stimulating neurogenesis, enhancing autophagy and inhibiting apoptosis. This article summaries advances in mechanism of treatment for spinal cord injury with lithium by reviewing and analyzing researches. Therapy combined with lithium has a good application prospect.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Humans ; Lithium ; therapeutic use ; Neurons ; cytology ; drug effects ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; drug therapy ; physiopathology

During the lest 7 years 21 children with vesicoureteral reflux and neurogenic bladder dysfunction and 46 children with primary vesicoureteral reflux were followed. At the time of initial presentation, the mean age of the former group was 5.5 years and the letter group, 2.8 years. The grade of reflux and the nephropathy were more severe in the children with neuropathic bladder than in the children with primary vesicoureteral reflux But in the same reflux grade, there was no statistical difference in the nephropathy between the two groups. The children with vesicoureteral reflux and neuropathic bladder were managed with drug therapy, intermittent catheterization, urinary diversion and ureteral reimplantation. Radiological followup revealed that resolution or improvement of reflux occurred in 36 per cent of renal units managed by intermittent catheterization and 100 per cent in which the ureters were reimplanted. As in the non-neurogenic bladder successful management of reflux and prevention of upper tract deterioration can be achieved by conservative management as well as by ureteroneocystostomy.
Catheterization ; Catheters ; Child ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Replantation ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Ultrasonography* ; Ureter ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic ; Urinary Catheterization ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

The repairing and regeneration of peripheral nerves is a very complex biological and cytological process, its mechanism is unclear so far, and thus results in the lack of specific and effectual therapy and medicament. Chinese herbs and their effective components have their own inimitable predominance in promoting peripheral nerve regeneration, such as their multi-factorial, multi-target and multi-functional action, abundant source, inexpensive, etc. In this paper, the experimental studies reported in recent 5 years concerning the effects of Chinese herbs or their active components on peripheral nerve repairing and regeneration are reviewed in respects of the integral level, cellular level, molecular level and gene level.
Animals ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Nerve Regeneration ; drug effects ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; drug therapy ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; drug therapy