Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in treating incomplete cervical spinal cord injury, and to explore the possibility of a relationship between the expression of long chain non-coding RNA (LncRNA) and neurological recovery after such injury.Methods:Forty-six patients suffering from incomplete cervical spinal cord injury were randomly divided into a tDCS group and a control group, each of 23. The American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) standard, a functional independence scale (FIM) and the modified Barthel index (MBI) were used to evaluate functional changes before and after 8 weeks of treatment. The neurophysiological evaluations of the spinal cord injury were in terms of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and motor evoked potentials (MEPs). The expression of the LncRNA-MALAT1, MIAT, GPNMB, LILRB4 and SCD1 genes was quantified before and after the intervention. The relationship between the expression of LncRNA and MBI was then further explored.Results:The average central motor conduction time (CMCT) of the MEPs and the average central conduction time (CTT) of SEPs in the tDCS group were significantly lower than those before treatment and significantly faster than those of the control group after the treatment. The relative expression levels of LncRNA-MALAT1 and MIAT in the tDCS group were significantly higher than those before treatment and among the control group after the intervention. However, no significant differences were observed in the average expression of the LncRNA-GPNMB, LILRB4 or SCD1 genes. After tDCS the relative expression levels of LncRNA-MALAT1 and MIAT were positively and significantly correlated with MBI scores.Conclusions:tDCS can promote the recovery of motor and sensory functions after incomplete cervical spinal cord injury. The underlying mechanism may lie in the up-regulation of LncRNA-MALAT1 and MIAT expression.

BACKGROUND:Traumatic spinal cord injury primarily relies on scale assessment and imaging examinations in clinical practice.However,there are limitations in predicting the prognosis of the injury.Therefore,the use of metabolomics technology for biomarker screening is significant for estimating the extent of damage,injury and recovery,as well as developing new therapies. OBJECTIVE:To characterize the metabolic features of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury using metabolomics technology and explore potential biomarkers and disrupted metabolic pathways. METHODS:Serum and urine samples were collected from 20 patients with traumatic spinal cord injury(observation group)and 10 healthy subjects(control group).Metabolites were analyzed and multivariate statistical analysis was then performed for data processing to screen differential metabolites.Metabolic pathway enrichment was performed using MetaboAnalyst software.Logistic regression was applied to construct a biomarker combination model,and its relationship with the American Spinal Injury Association grading was analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Significant differences in 160 and 73 metabolites were detected in the serum and urine samples of the two groups,respectively.Pathway enrichment analysis showed evident disturbances in lipid metabolism after traumatic spinal cord injury,including sphingolipid,arachidonic acid,α-linolenic acid,and arachidonic acid metabolism,as well as glycerophospholipid and inositol phosphate biosynthesis.The combination of two identified biomarkers,telmisartan and quercetin glycoside,showed a correlation with the American Spinal Injury Association grading in both serum and urine levels.Thus,metabolomics technology provides assistance in further understanding the pathological mechanisms of traumatic spinal cord injury and screening therapeutic targets.The identified metabolic biomarker combination may serve as a reference for assessing the severity of traumatic spinal cord injury.