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Dorsal Root Ganglion Injection and Dorsal Root Crush Injury as a Model for Sensory Axon Regeneration
Published on: May 3, 2017
Cell death after dorsal root injury.
Daniel J Chew1, Veronica H L Leinster, Mathuri Sakthithasan
1Neuroscience Centre, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Bart's and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, 4 Newark Street, London E1 2AT, United Kingdom.
Neuroscience Letters
|February 19, 2008
Summary
Spinal cord injury in rats showed increased cell death after 1-2 days, but not 14 days. Avulsion injuries caused more neuronal and non-neuronal cell death in the spinal cord than rhizotomy.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cell Biology
- Surgical Research
Background:
- Nerve injury can lead to cell death in the central and peripheral nervous systems.
- Understanding the extent and type of cell death is crucial for developing therapeutic strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare cell death in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and spinal cord following rhizotomy versus avulsion injuries.
- To investigate the temporal profile and cell types affected by these injuries.
Main Methods:
- Adult rats underwent multiple lumbar dorsal root rhizotomy or avulsion injury.
- Cell death was assessed using flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated biotinylated uridine triphosphate nick end-labelling (TUNEL) immunohistochemistry at 1, 2, and 14 days post-injury.
- Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and spinal cord tissues were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Neither rhizotomy nor avulsion caused significant cell death in the DRG.
- Both injury types increased spinal cord cell death at 1-2 days post-injury, which resolved by 14 days.
- Avulsion injuries resulted in more TUNEL-positive cells in the dorsal columns and dorsal horn compared to rhizotomy.
- TUNEL staining indicated death of both neuronal and non-neuronal cells.
Conclusions:
- Spinal cord injury, particularly avulsion, leads to transient cell death in the spinal cord but not the DRG.
- Avulsion injury has more severe consequences on spinal cord cell survival than rhizotomy.
- Both neuronal and non-neuronal cells are susceptible to injury-induced death in the spinal cord.
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