Control of demyelination for recovery of spinal cord injury

Abstract

Since loss of oligodendrocytes and consequent demyelination of spared axons severely impair the functional recovery of injured spinal cord, it is reasonably expected that the reduction of oligodendroglial death and enhanced remyelination of demyelinated axons will have a therapeutic potential to treat spinal cord injury. Amelioration of axonal myelination in the injured spinal cord is valuable for recovery of the neural function of incompletely injured patients. Here, this article presents an overview about the pathophysiology and mechanism of axonal demyelination in spinal cord injury and discusses its therapeutic significance in the treatment of spinal cord injury. Moreover, it further introduces the recent strategies to improve the axonal myeliantion to facilitate functional recovery of spinal cord injury.