PMID- 26164199 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20151222 LR - 20210517 IS - 1090-2430 (Electronic) IS - 0014-4886 (Linking) VI - 271 DP - 2015 Sep TI - Treadmill training induced lumbar motoneuron dendritic plasticity and behavior recovery in adult rats after a thoracic contusive spinal cord injury. PG - 368-78 LID - S0014-4886(15)30038-8 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.expneurol.2015.07.004 [doi] AB - Spinal cord injury (SCI) is devastating, causing sensorimotor impairments and paralysis. Persisting functional limitations on physical activity negatively affect overall health in individuals with SCI. Physical training may improve motor function by affecting cellular and molecular responses of motor pathways in the central nervous system (CNS) after SCI. Although motoneurons form the final common path for motor output from the CNS, little is known concerning the effect of exercise training on spared motoneurons below the level of injury. Here we examined the effect of treadmill training on morphological, trophic, and synaptic changes in the lumbar motoneuron pool and on behavior recovery after a moderate contusive SCI inflicted at the 9th thoracic vertebral level (T9) using an Infinite Horizon (IH, 200 kDyne) impactor. We found that treadmill training significantly improved locomotor function, assessed by Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale, and reduced foot drops, assessed by grid walking performance, as compared with non-training. Additionally, treadmill training significantly increased the total neurite length per lumbar motoneuron innervating the soleus and tibialis anterior muscles of the hindlimbs as compared to non-training. Moreover, treadmill training significantly increased the expression of a neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the lumbar motoneurons as compared to non-training. Finally, treadmill training significantly increased synaptic density, identified by synaptophysin immunoreactivity, in the lumbar motoneuron pool as compared to non-training. However, the density of serotonergic terminals in the same regions did not show a significant difference between treadmill training and non-training. Thus, our study provides a biological basis for exercise training as an effective medical practice to improve recovery after SCI. Such an effect may be mediated by synaptic plasticity, and neurotrophic modification in the spared lumbar motoneuron pool caudal to a thoracic contusive SCI. CI - Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FAU - Wang, Hongxing AU - Wang H AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, PR China; Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. FAU - Liu, Nai-Kui AU - Liu NK AD - Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. FAU - Zhang, Yi Ping AU - Zhang YP AD - Norton Neuroscience Institute, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY 40202, United States. FAU - Deng, Lingxiao AU - Deng L AD - Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. FAU - Lu, Qing-Bo AU - Lu QB AD - Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. FAU - Shields, Christopher B AU - Shields CB AD - Norton Neuroscience Institute, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY 40202, United States. FAU - Walker, Melissa J AU - Walker MJ AD - Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. FAU - Li, Jianan AU - Li J AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, PR China. Electronic address: lijianan@carm.org.cn. FAU - Xu, Xiao-Ming AU - Xu XM AD - Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. Electronic address: xu26@iupui.edu. LA - eng GR - NS050243/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States GR - R01 NS111776/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States GR - I01 BX002356/BX/BLRD VA/United States GR - NS073636/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States GR - NS059622/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PT - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. DEP - 20150709 PL - United States TA - Exp Neurol JT - Experimental neurology JID - 0370712 RN - 0 (2-hydroxy-4,4'-diamidinostilbene, methanesulfonate salt) RN - 0 (Nerve Tissue Proteins) RN - 0 (Stilbamidines) RN - 0 (cholera toxin, B subunit-horseradish peroxidase) RN - 9012-63-9 (Cholera Toxin) RN - EC 1.11.1.- (Horseradish Peroxidase) SB - IM MH - Animals MH - Cholera Toxin/metabolism MH - Dendrites/metabolism/pathology MH - Disease Models, Animal MH - Exercise Test MH - Exercise Therapy/*methods MH - Female MH - Horseradish Peroxidase/metabolism MH - Locomotion MH - Motor Neurons/pathology/*physiology MH - Muscle Strength MH - Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism MH - Neuronal Plasticity/*physiology MH - Pain Measurement MH - Physical Conditioning, Animal/physiology MH - Rats MH - Rats, Sprague-Dawley MH - Recovery of Function/*physiology MH - Spinal Cord MH - Spinal Cord Injuries/*pathology/*rehabilitation MH - Stilbamidines/pharmacokinetics OTO - NOTNLM OT - BDNF OT - Dendrites OT - Motoneurons OT - Spinal cord injury OT - Synaptic density OT - Treadmill training EDAT- 2015/07/15 06:00 MHDA- 2015/12/23 06:00 CRDT- 2015/07/13 06:00 PHST- 2015/02/23 00:00 [received] PHST- 2015/07/01 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2015/07/04 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2015/07/13 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2015/07/15 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2015/12/23 06:00 [medline] AID - S0014-4886(15)30038-8 [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.expneurol.2015.07.004 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Exp Neurol. 2015 Sep;271:368-78. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2015.07.004. Epub 2015 Jul 9.