The Effects of Weight- and Non-weight-bearing Exercise on Corticospinal Axon Sprouting, Regeneration-related Proteins and Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Contusion

Overview

Journal J Exerc Rehabil

Date 2025 Jan 9

PMID 39781504

Authors

Joo-In Yu

Tae-Beom Seo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of weight- and non-weight-bearing exercises on the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale, corticospinal axon regrowth and regeneration-related proteins following spinal cord injury (SCI). Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group (n=6), SCI+sedentary group (SED, n=6), SCI+treadmill exercise group (TREAD, n=6), and SCI+swimming exercise group (SWIM, n=6). All rats in the SCI group were given the rest for 2 weeks after SCI, and then they were allowed to engage in low-intensity exercise for 6 weeks on treadmill device. Motor function (BBB score) was improved more in the SWIM group compared to the SED group at 3 and 6 weeks after SCI. The SWIM group also showed higher levels of axonal outgrowth in corticospinal tract and increased expression of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase, a marker of axonal regeneration in the dorsal horn of the caudal region, compared to the TREAD group. Additionally, the SWIM group significantly upregulated the expression of regeneration-related proteins. Our findings suggest that non-weight-bearing exercise may be one of several rehabilitation methods for improving locomotor function and corticospinal axon regeneration after SCI.

References

Kumar S, Behera S, Basu A, Dey S, Ghosh-Roy A . Swimming Exercise Promotes Post-injury Axon Regeneration and Functional Restoration through AMPK. eNeuro. 2021; 8(3). PMC: 8211466. DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0414-20.2021. View

Hou T, Yang X, Xia P, Pan S, Liu J, Qi Z . Exercise promotes motor functional recovery in rats with corticospinal tract injury: anti-apoptosis mechanism. Neural Regen Res. 2015; 10(4):644-50. PMC: 4424760. DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.155441. View

Kreher J, Schwartz J . Overtraining syndrome: a practical guide. Sports Health. 2012; 4(2):128-38. PMC: 3435910. DOI: 10.1177/1941738111434406. View

Wu Q, Cao Y, Dong C, Wang H, Wang Q, Tong W . Neuromuscular interaction is required for neurotrophins-mediated locomotor recovery following treadmill training in rat spinal cord injury. PeerJ. 2016; 4:e2025. PMC: 4867713. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2025. View

Seo T, Chang I, Lee J, Namgung U . Beneficial function of cell division cycle 2 activity in astrocytes on axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma. 2013; 30(12):1053-61. DOI: 10.1089/neu.2012.2693. View

Harman K, DeVeau K, Squair J, West C, Krassioukov A, Magnuson D . Effects of early exercise training on the severity of autonomic dysreflexia following incomplete spinal cord injury in rodents. Physiol Rep. 2021; 9(15):e14969. PMC: 8327165. DOI: 10.14814/phy2.14969. View

Fakhri S, Dargahi L, Abbaszadeh F, Jorjani M . Effects of astaxanthin on sensory-motor function in a compression model of spinal cord injury: Involvement of ERK and AKT signalling pathway. Eur J Pain. 2018; 23(4):750-764. DOI: 10.1002/ejp.1342. View

Scheff S, Saucier D, Cain M . A statistical method for analyzing rating scale data: the BBB locomotor score. J Neurotrauma. 2002; 19(10):1251-60. DOI: 10.1089/08977150260338038. View

Oh M, Seo T, Kwon K, Yoon S, Elzi D, Kim B . Axonal outgrowth and Erk1/2 activation by training after spinal cord injury in rats. J Neurotrauma. 2009; 26(11):2071-82. DOI: 10.1089/neu.2008.0800. View

10.

Hu X, Xu W, Ren Y, Wang Z, He X, Huang R . Spinal cord injury: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic interventions. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2023; 8(1):245. PMC: 10291001. DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01477-6. View

11.

Jung S, Seo T, Kim D . Treadmill exercise facilitates recovery of locomotor function through axonal regeneration following spinal cord injury in rats. J Exerc Rehabil. 2016; 12(4):284-92. PMC: 5031384. DOI: 10.12965/jer.1632698.349. View

12.

Wang H, Liu N, Zhang Y, Deng L, Lu Q, Shields C . Treadmill training induced lumbar motoneuron dendritic plasticity and behavior recovery in adult rats after a thoracic contusive spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol. 2015; 271:368-78. DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2015.07.004. View

13.

Li J, Shi H, Liu H, Dong F, Liu Z, Lu Y . Nerve Injury-Induced Neuronal PAP-I Maintains Neuropathic Pain by Activating Spinal Microglia. J Neurosci. 2019; 40(2):297-310. PMC: 6948937. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1414-19.2019. View

14.

Ono Y, Tanaka H, Takata M, Nagahara Y, Noda Y, Tsuruma K . SA4503, a sigma-1 receptor agonist, suppresses motor neuron damage in in vitro and in vivo amyotrophic lateral sclerosis models. Neurosci Lett. 2013; 559:174-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.12.005. View

15.

Kim Y, Ha K, Kim S . Spinal Cord Injury and Related Clinical Trials. Clin Orthop Surg. 2017; 9(1):1-9. PMC: 5334017. DOI: 10.4055/cios.2017.9.1.1. View

16.

Shibata T, Tashiro S, Shinozaki M, Hashimoto S, Matsumoto M, Nakamura M . Treadmill training based on the overload principle promotes locomotor recovery in a mouse model of chronic spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol. 2021; 345:113834. DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2021.113834. View

17.

Erschbamer M, Pham T, Zwart M, Baumans V, Olson L . Neither environmental enrichment nor voluntary wheel running enhances recovery from incomplete spinal cord injury in rats. Exp Neurol. 2006; 201(1):154-64. DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2006.04.003. View

18.

Jang Y, Lee B, Kim E, Shim W, Yang Y, Kim S . Involuntary swimming exercise in pregnant rats disturbs ERK1/2 signaling in embryonic neurons through increased cortisol in the amniotic fluid. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2017; 495(1):1208-1213. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.11.153. View

19.

Cho Y, Seo T . The role of walking exercise on axonal regrowth and neuropathic pain markers in dorsal root ganglion after sciatic nerve injury. J Exerc Rehabil. 2024; 19(6):320-326. PMC: 10766449. DOI: 10.12965/jer.2346522.261. View

20.

Pedrinelli A, Garcez-Leme L, Azul Nobre R . THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL TRAINING ON THE LOCOMOTOR APPARATUS IN ELDERLY PEOPLE. Rev Bras Ortop. 2016; 44(2):96-101. PMC: 4783589. DOI: 10.1016/S2255-4971(15)30054-9. View