Transtraumatic Epidural Electrostimulation Promotes the Preservation of the Spinal Cord and Skeletal Muscles in Pigs

Morphological confirmation of the recovery of the spinal cord (SC) and the skeletal muscle (m. soleus) in both hind limbs was achieved in pigs with contusion injury in the lower thoracic region (Th8-Th9), following transtraumatic epidural electrical stimulation (TEES). Sixty days after the neurotrauma model, the anterior and posterior horns of the rostral and caudal spinal cord segments were examined using histological and immunofluorescent techniques relative to the injury epicenter. In animals with a 6-week TEES regimen at the Th5 and L2 levels, a larger area of intact gray matter, a smaller number of caspase-3⁺ cells undergoing apoptosis, decreased expression of the heat shock protein 27 (HSP27), inhibition of astrogliosis development, and an increase in the number of oligodendroglial cells were observed. This agrees with data on the suppression of m. soleus atrophy and the maintenance of its original phenotype. The information we previously received about the functional recovery of the spinal cord and the results of this study allow us to make conclusion about the morphofunctional post-traumatic recovery of the spinal cord under TEES conditions.