Acute spinal cord injury reduces brain derived neurotrohic factor expression in rat hippocampus

• Published in: Neuroscience Vol. 159; no. 3; pp. 936 - 939
• Main Authors: Fumagalli, F, Madaschi, L, Caffino, L, Marfia, G, Di Giulio, A.M, Racagni, G, Gorio, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 31.03.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Autoradiography; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Western; brain; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - genetics; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - metabolism; Down-Regulation; FGF-2; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 - metabolism; Frontal Lobe - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GAP-43; GAP-43 Protein - metabolism; Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases - metabolism; Hippocampus - metabolism; Laminectomy; lesion; Male; Neurology; neurotrophin; Prefrontal Cortex - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Spinal Cord Injuries - metabolism; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; spinal cord injury; p.f; protected fragment; brain; FGF-2; analysis of variance; ANOVA; GAP-43; SCI; growth-associated protein 43; neurotrophin; glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; laminectomy; GAPDH; lesion; Neurotrophin; Spinal cord; Growth associated protein 43; Rat; Acute; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Basic fibroblast growth factor; Encephalon; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Lesion; Hippocampus
• ISSN: 0306-4522; 1873-7544
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.01.030

Abstract Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating event which causes dramatic changes in the everyday life of the patient. We have found that acute SCI reduced BDNF expression selectively in the hippocampus of lesioned rats, a decrease which persists at least 1 week, thus identifying the modulation of the neurotrophin biosynthesis as an important mechanism underlying brain vulnerability to SCI. These data are the first to show that SCI alters hippocampal BDNF expression and identify the neurotrophin as a potential target through which SCI changes brain functions, a notion that might prove useful in understanding the mechanisms underlying brain vulnerability to SCI.