Abstract
Objective To investigate the effects of three different motor training regimens on motor function improvement after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats.Methods Forty-five healthy,adult Sprague-Dawley rats (female),weight 260-300 g,were included.Six rats were selected as the normal group.A model of incomplete SCI at the T9 level was induced in the others using a modification of Allen's method.Nine rats died after the injury and were excluded.The other 30 rats were randomly divided into 5 groups:a 7 d control group,a 35 d control group,a bodyweight-supported-treadmill-training (BWSTT) group,a swimming training group and a wheel running group,with 6 rats in each group.The three training groups began exercising at the 8th day post surgery,30 min per day,5 days a week for 4 weeks.Locomotor function was evaluated by inclined plane tests,modified Tarlov scores,and the BassoBeattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scale before the operation and on the 1st,7th,14th,21st,28th,and 35th day post surgery.Histomorphological changes of the T9 level spinal cord and the gastrocnemius muscle were observed with light microscopy and electron microscopy,and the cross sectional areas and diameters of the gastrocnemius muscle fibers were calculated.Results ①In the BWSTT group and the swimming training group,locomotor function scores increased significantly at all time points compared with the two control groups.There was no significant difference in rehabilitative effect between the BWSTT group and the swimming training group.But compared with both control groups,improvement in the wheel running group was not significant.②After 4 weeks of training,histomorphological observation of the injured T9 spinal cord tissue and gastrocnemius muscle fibers showed that the improvement in the BWSTT group was the most significant.The edema of the injured T9 level spinal cord tissue had decreased,cell vascular degeneration had lessened,the morphology of the neurons and glial cells trended to perfect recovery and nerve fibers had proliferated significantly.③Comparing the cross sectional areas and diameters of gastrocnemius muscle fibers showed that the improved amyotrophy in the BWSTT group was the most significant.The average cross sectional area (55.34 + 14.46 μm2) and diameter (8.32 + 0.99 μm) were close to the normal group (55.49±13.84 μm2 and 8.37 +1.13 μm).The swimming training group also had great improvement (46.05±8.50 μm2 and 7.68 + 0.76 μm) compared with the 35 d control group,while improvement in the wheel running group was not significant.Conclusions All three motor training regimens can improve locomotor and neurologic function,but the effects of BWSTT and swimming are better than that of wheel running. Key words: Spinal cord injury; Motor function; Exercise training; Rats
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