title: Effect of vascular endothelial growth factor treatment in experimental traumatic spinal cord injury: in vivo longitudinal assessment.
abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is thought to provide neuroprotection to the traumatically injured spinal cord. We examined whether supplementing the injured environment with VEGF(165) via direct intraspinal injection into the lesion epicenter during the acute phase of spinal cord injury (SCI) results in improved outcome. The effect of treatment was investigated using longitudinal multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), neurobehavioral assays, and end-point immunohistochemistry. We observed on MRI that rats treated with VEGF(165) after SCI had increased tissue sparing compared to vehicle-treated animals at the earlier time points. However, these favorable effects were not maintained into the chronic phase. Histology revealed that VEGF(165) treatment resulted in increased oligodendrogenesis and/or white matter sparing, and therefore may eventually lead to improved functional outcome. The increase in spared tissue as demonstrated by MRI, coupled with the possible remyelination and increased neurosensory sensitivity, suggests that VEGF(165) treatment may play a role in promoting plasticity in the sensory pathways following SCI. However, VEGF-treated animals also demonstrated an increased incidence of persistent allodynia, as indicated on the von Frey filament test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sundberg
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.forename: Ponnada A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Narayana
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A