Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2025
Activity-based Training on a Treadmill with Spinal Cord Injured Wistar Rats
Published on: January 16, 2019
Continuous administration of leuprolide acetate improves urinary function in male rats with severe thoracic spinal
Jose Luis Palacios1, S Luquin2, J Luis Quintanar3
1Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico; Centro Universitario del Norte, Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico.
Aims:
To determine if a continuous administration of leuprolide acetate (LA), a synthetic agonist for the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone receptor, facilitates the recovery of urinary function in spinal cord injured male rats.
Main Methods:
Male Wistar rats were randomized into spinal cord injury (SCI; n = 7), SCI with continuous administration of LA for two weeks via implantation of a subcutaneous osmotic pump (SCI + LA; n = 7), Sham SCI (SH-SCI; n = 6) or no surgery (Intact; n = 6) groups. Micturition, hind-limb nociception and locomotor behaviors were analyzed before and after surgical procedures on days 7, 14, 21 and 28. After behavioral studies, electromyography of the external urethral sphincter (EUS-EMG) and cystometric (CMG) studies were performed in all groups.
Key Findings:
SCI significantly decreased frequency of voids and CMG parameters (p < 0.001), abolished the bursting activity of the EUS during CMG, significantly increased hind limb sensory threshold and decreased locomotor performance in comparison to the other groups (p < 0.001). Continuous LA treatment significantly increased the frequency of voids and improved CMG parameters (p < 0.001), exhibiting bursting EUS activity during CMGs, and enhanced locomotor performance in comparison to SCI rats (p < 0.001).
Significance:
SCI severely affected behavioral and functional micturition processes, including sensory and locomotor functions. Systemic and uninterrupted treatment with LA improves the recovery of micturition behavior and the synergistic function of the EUS. Furthermore, sensory and locomotor responses were also improved in SCI rats. This procedure may have a therapeutic potential to facilitate urinary function recovery in patients with SCI.
