Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine

Regeneration and Outcome Measures in Spinal Cord Injury.: Koh, Seong Eun; J Korean Acad Rehabil Med 2008;32(6):603-611.

Abstract
PDF

Spinal cord injury (SCI) often results in devastating neurological dysfunction. Therefore many of the SCI patients suffer with physical disabilities or social handicaps. Many obstacles have been known to affect adult spinal cord regeneration and functional recovery. However, scientific knowledge of the central nervous system (CNS) development and post-injury responses including pathophysiology of SCI has been expanded recently, which might produce potential promising therapies for this condition. These are as followed; (1) pharmacological neuroprotective agents, (2) administration of exogenous neurotrophic factors or augmenting intraneural cyclic AMP, (3) inhibition of nonpermissive environment of the injured spinal cord, (4) cellular transplantation, and (5) rehabilitation interventions with body- weight supported treadmill therapy and functional electrical stimulation. In addition, the precise evaluation of functional improvement or gait is also important in rehabilitation of SCI patients. Various evaluation tools have been developed and introduced in order to estimate a degree of improvement properly. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2008; 32: 603-611)

1,717 View
19 Download

Expression of Caveolin-3 in the Myelin Sheath of Peripheral Nerve.: Kwon, Bum Sun; J Korean Acad Rehabil Med 2006;30(4):353-356.

Abstract
PDF

Objective
To exhibit the caveolin-3 immunoreactivities (IRs) in the peripheral nerve, which was previously known to be present only within the muscle and to be a causative agent of myopathy Method: The sciatic nerves of the rat were removed after the perfusion and frozen after cryoprotection by sucrose. The tissue specimens were cut on cryostat and immunostained with anti-caveolin-3 and growth associated protein-43 (GAP-43) antibodies. The sections were observed with a fluorescence microscope. Results: We detected caveolin-3 IRs in myelin sheath of the peripheral nerves, while GAP IRs were detected in the axon. Caveolin-3 IRs were active in the rat of postnatal 1 week, but they were reduced in the rat of postnatal 3 week and disappeared in that of 5 week. Conclusion: We detected caveolin-3 IRs in the myelin sheath of peripheral nerve. Caveolin-3 might play roles in the early myelination of peripheral nerve. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2006; 30: 353-356)

1,363 View
4 Download

Effect of Low Power Laser Irradiation on the Proliferation and Differentiation of PC12 Nerve Cells.: Joo, Hyung Wook , Lee, Seong Jae , Hyun, Jung Keun , Kim, Byung Hee , Park, Won Beom , Lee, Chang Ho , Kwon, Bum Sun; J Korean Acad Rehabil Med 2005;29(4):419-423.

Abstract
PDF

Objective
We examined the effect of low power laser irradiation (LPLI) on the proliferation and differentiation of PC12 nerve cells. Method: After seeding 4⁓10⁵ PC12 nerve cells each in the 24 well-culture dishes, we cultured them for 6 days with RPMI1640 media. LPLI (650 nm, 5 mW, 5 sec) was applied for 1 day, 2 days and 3 days (1, 2 and 3-day-LPLI groups) consecutively. For the degree of proliferation of PC12 nerve cells, we compared the total cell number at 6th day after LPLI by MTT cell proliferation assay. For the degree of differentiation, we compared the length of neurite out- growth and the expression of RT97 at 6th day after adding nerve growth factor on each group. Results: The total cell numbers were increased significantly after LPLI, but those increments were not significant among 1, 2, and 3-day-LPLI groups. The numbers of the differentiated PC12 nerve cells and the expressions of RT97 were diminished serially according to the number of days of LPLI. Conclusion: We conclude that LPLI increased the proliferation and decreased the differentiation of PC12 nerve cells. We could suggest that single or short-term use of LPLI on the injured nerve should be helpful for enhancing the neural regeneration in vivo. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2005; 29: 419-423)

1,512 View
5 Download

The Effect of Low Energy Laser Irradiation on the Sciatic Nerve Regeneration of the Rat.: Hyun, Jung Keun , Park, Seok Gun , Lee, Seong Jae , Kwon, Bum Sun; J Korean Acad Rehabil Med 2004;28(1):64-70.

Abstract
PDF

Objective
To verify the effect of low energy laser irradiation (LELI) on the regeneration of injured sciatic nerve of the rat by showing the functional improvement and the elevated immunoreactivities (IRs) of growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43). Method: Twenty rats, which had standardized compression injuries to the sciatic nerves, received the calculated LELI therapy immediately after the nerve injury and four consecutive days. The functional status was evaluated by sciatic functional index (SFI), and GAP-43-IRs was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. Results: The SFI was recovered in LELI rats faster than in the control group. Although expression of GAP-43 in the injured sciatic nerve was increased both in the LELI and control groups, the intensities of GAP-43-IRs were much greater in LELI treated group at 1 and 3 weeks after nerve injury. Both SFI and GAP-43-IRs reached the same level at 5 weeks after the nerve injury. Conclusion: LELI enhanced the neural regeneration after experimentally induced sciatic nerve injury at the early stage of recovery. Considering the effect of LELI on nerve regeneration was not fully explained until now, this study could suggest the meaningful explanation on the mechanism of LELI effectiveness on neural regeneration. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2004; 28: 64-70)

1,474 View
12 Download

Effects of Electrical Stimulation on Nerve Regeneration in Peripheral Nerve Injured Rats.: Kim, Yeung Ki , Ahn, Sang Ho , Jang, Seung Ho , Park, Hea Woon , Sin, Hyun Jin; J Korean Acad Rehabil Med 1999;23(5):893-898.

Abstract
PDF

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of direct current electrical fields and peripheral external electrical stimulation to promote regeneration of the transected rat sciatic nerve.

Method: Four groups were studied: three experimental groups and one control group. Cathod distal (CD) group; nerves were treated with 1.0 μA direct current with the cathode oriented distally to the lesion, anode distal (AD) group; nerves were treated with the anode oriented distally to the lesion, external stimulation (ES) group; nerves were treated with 3 mA, 60 Hz, galvanic current, using a ring electrode at ankle joint 3 times per day. No current was delivered in control group. Electrophysiologic and functional assessments were conducted at 3 weeks postoperatively.

Results: All experimental groups showed significantly higher electrophysiologic and functional improvement than the control group. However, there is no significant differece in improvement among experimental groups.

Conclusion: Both direct current electrical field and peripheral external electrical stimulation can effectively promote peripheral nerve regeneration.

1,827 View
11 Download

Estimation of Motor Unit Number According to Severity of Peripheral Nerve Injury in Rat.: Shim, Jae Ho , Lee, Ho , Lee, Jong Min , Chung, Hong Guen , Lee, Young Hee; J Korean Acad Rehabil Med 1999;23(2):195-201.

Abstract
PDF

Objective: To evaluate the changes of motor unit number estimation (MUNE) and the amplitude of compound muscle action potential (CMAP) according to severity of nerve injury in rat.

Method: The sciatic nerve was compressed with two different severity (mild, severe) in 20 rats each. MUNE was performed in gastrocnemius of rat using the Poisson statistics. MUNE and amplitude of CMAP were compared according to severity of injury at two and four weeks after injury.

Results: The MUNE and amplitude of CMAP were significantly diminished at two and four weeks after nerve injury in severely injured rat. Both values were also diminished at two weeks after injury in mildly injured rat. The amplitude of CMAP was slightly increased at four weeks after mild injury despite of further decrement of MUNE.

Conclusion: The MUNE and amplitude of CMAP changed differently according to severity of nerve injury in rat, which might represent different denervation and reinnervation process.

1,422 View
4 Download

The Study of Nerve Conduction Time and TGF-beta After Sciatic Nerve Injury.: Kim, Chang Yeoul , Seo, Kyung Mook; J Korean Acad Rehabil Med 1997;21(4):731-739.

Abstract
PDF

The peripheral nerves can restore their impaired function after injuries from trauma or surgery. The known factors affecting the recovery of damaged peripheral nerves include the severity of damage, nerve growth factor(NGF) from the damaged area and the concentrations of fibrinogen and thrombin. One of polypeptides, transforming growth factors beta(TGF-β) has been known to be related to inflammation and healing process of various wound. The TGF-β has to three subtypes, TGF-β₁, TGF-β₂ and TGF-β₃. This study was performed to explore the effects of TGF-β subtypes on the recovery phase of damaged nerve. Sciatic nerves of rat were compressed 200 dyne/mm². The latencies were measured by stimulation of proximal and distal portion of compression injury site and expression of TGF-β isoforms was studied in proximal and distal nerve of compression site and spinal cord by using avidin-biotin complex immunoperoxidase technique.

The latencies were increased at one week after nerve injury and then recovered progressively following 4 weeks. The latencies were restored to almost normal values at 4 weeks after nerve injury. TGF-β₁ and TGF-β₃ were expressed weakly at the cytoplasm of Schwann cell in the distal portion after 12 hours of injury. The values of TGF-β₁ and TGF-β₃ were increased at 3rd day after injury and lasted till the 4th week which was the end point of nerve regeneration. The changes of proximal portion were different from those of distal portion. TGF-β₁ and TGF-β₃ of proximal portion showed stronger positive reaction than that of distal portion and the reaction was peaked at 3rd day after injury. TGF-β subtypes were rarely present at neuronal cells and astrocytes in spinal cord from 12th hour to 3rd day after injury. The TGF-β subtypes were weakly appeared at the 1st week after injury and successively increased to 4th week at which the latencies were restored to almost normal value. The patterns of revelation of TGF-β subtypes showed that TGF-β₁ was predominant at neuronal cell and TGF-β₂ was at glial cells.

We suggest that TGF-β subtypes might be related to the regeneration process of nerve injuery.