We used anatomical and physiological approaches to characterize nicotinic receptors (AChRs) on Renshaw cells of the neonatal rat spinal cord. Confocal imaging of Renshaw cells, identified by their characteristic pattern of gephyrin immunoreactivity, revealed that these neurons are immuno-positive for the alpha4 and beta2 AChR subunits but not for the alpha7 subunit. We used whole cell recording...

BACKGROUND Recent evidence suggests that oxytocin (OT), secreted in the superficial spinal cord dorsal horn by descending axons of paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) neurons, produces antinociception and analgesia. The spinal mechanism of OT is, however, still unclear and requires further investigation. We have used patch clamp recording of lamina II neurons in spinal cord slices and im...

BACKGROUND Paraplegia following spinal cord ischemia represents a devastating complication of both aortic surgery and endovascular aortic repair. Shock wave treatment was shown to induce angiogenesis and regeneration in ischemic tissue by modulation of early inflammatory response via Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3 signaling. In preclinical and clinical studies, shock wave treatment had a favorable ...

In contrast to the adult brain, the adult spinal cord is a non-neurogenic environment. Understanding how to manipulate the spinal cord environment to promote the formation of new neurons is an attractive therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury and disease. The cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) has been implicated as a modulator of neural progenitor cell proliferation and fate specification in t...

Our previous study showed that activation of c-jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) in spinal astrocytes plays an important role in neuropathic pain sensitization. We further investigated how JNK regulates neuropathic pain. In cultured astrocytes, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) transiently activated JNK via TNF receptor-1. Cytokine array indicated that the chemokine CCL2/MCP-1 (monocyte chemoat...

Spinal cord injury is a devastating chronic condition resulting in temporary or permanent motor,sensory or autonomic dysfunction of the cord. The manifestation of spinal cord injury based onthe severity and involved areas could be different. Numerous studies have demonstrated thatbradycardia, hypotension, and orthostatic hypotension are present insignificant number ofpat...

a 60-year-old patient with testicular seminoma was referred for f-18 fdg pet/ct study to evaluate recurrence. in addition to hypermetabolic cervical, mediastinal and hilar lymph node tumoral metastases, segmental intense fdg uptake along the lumbar spinal cord suggestive of tumoral metastasis was noted which quite an unusual presentation is.  at the time of pet study the patient was symptomless...

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by progressive cerebral demyelination cerebral childhood adrenoleukodystrophy (CCALD) or spinal cord neurodegeneration (adrenomyeloneuropathy, AMN), adrenal insufficiency and accumulation of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA) in tissues. The disease is caused by mutations in the ABCD1 gene, which encodes...