title: Synergistic effect of melatonin on exercise-induced neuronal reconstruction and functional recovery in a spinal cord injury animal model.
abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) may aggravate neuronal damage after spinal cord injury (SCI). We hypothesized that NO produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) accelerates secondary damage to spinal tissue, which may be reversed by the neuroprotectant, melatonin. This study investigated the effects of combination therapy with melatonin (10 mg/kg) and exercise (10 m/min) on recovery from SCI caused by contusion. We examined locomotor recovery, iNOS gene expression, autophagic and apoptotic signaling, including Beclin-1, LC3, p53 and IKKalpha protein expression and histological alterations in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. Melatonin in combination with exercise resulted in significantly increased hindlimb movement (P < 0.05), a reduced level of iNOS mRNA (P < 0.05) and more motor neurons in the ventral horn, versus control SCI and SCI plus exercise alone, with no effect on the other signaling molecules examined. This study shows that combined therapy with melatonin and exercise reduces the degree of secondary damage associated with SCI in rats and supports the possible use of melatonin in combination with exercise to reduce the side effects related to exercise-induced fatigue and impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Science in Interdisciplinary PhD Program, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Kanghui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Science in Interdisciplinary PhD Program, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Youngjeon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease Center, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Sookyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department Physical Therapy, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Seunghoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department Physical Therapy, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Yunkyung
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease Center, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kil Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Science in Interdisciplinary PhD Program, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.|Department Physical Therapy, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.|Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease Center, College of Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Yonggeun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496318:Nos2 protein, rat; D008550:Melatonin