Spinal cord regeneration in rats made immunologically unresponsive to CNS antigens.

Seventy days after complete spinal cord transection, both treated and untreated rats showed evidence that some corticospinal axons had regenerated. Rats made immunologically unresponsive to CNS tissue showed no increase in corticospinal regeneration as measured by orthograde axoplasmic flow of tritated proline or retrograde axoplasmic labelling with horeseradish peroxidase. However, treated rats did demonstrate electrophysiological evidence of regeneration of long ascending sensory pathways. Tolerant animals additionally treated with cyclophosphamide showed corticospinal axonal regeneration by tritated proline transport and electrophysiological techniques and also showed electrophysiological evidence of ascending sensory tract regeneration.