Guanosine promotes myelination and functional recovery in chronic spinal injury.
Functional loss after spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused, in part, by demyelination of axons surviving the trauma. Administration of guanosine (8 mg/kg/day, i.p.) for 7 consecutive days, starting 5 weeks after moderate SCI in rats, improved locomotor function and spinal cord remyelination. Myelinogenesis was associated with an increase in the number of mature oligodendrocytes detected in guanosine-treated spinal cord sections in comparison with controls. These data indicate that guanosine-induced remyelination resulted, at least in part, from activation of endogenous oligodendrocyte lineage cells. These findings may have significant implications for chronic demyelinating diseases.
Jiang
Shucui
S
Department of Medicine, McMaster University Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, ON, Canada. jiangs@univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca
Khan
Mohammad I
MI
Lu
Yao
Y
Wang
Jian
J
Buttigieg
Josef
J
Werstiuk
Eva S
ES
Ciccarelli
Renata
R
Caciagli
Francesco
F
Rathbone
Michel P
MP
D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006151:Guanosine / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism
D004676:Myelin Basic Protein; D006151:Guanosine