Are rodents an appropriate pre-clinical model for treating spinal cord injury? Examples from the respiratory system.
Because most studies of the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI) and resulting repair and treatments use rodent models, it is important to determine if these models are relevant to humans. In this review, we focus on alterations in respiratory function as a result of SCI. Several injury paradigms have been used in the rat to examine restoration of post-lesion respiratory function and potential benefits from repair strategies designed for humans. Unlike the corticospinal locomotor system, respiratory neural organization is well preserved between rodents and humans, and resembles the general organization of motor pathways in primates. These similarities justify the use of the rodent respiratory system as a model to analyze SCI and putative repair strategies.
Kastner
Anne
A
Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III, UMR CNRS 6231 - CRN2M, Centre de Recherches en Neurobiologie et Neurophysiologie de Marseille, Equipe MP3-Respiration, Marseille Cedex 20, France.
Gauthier
Patrick
P
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000502:physiology; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012377:Rodentia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*