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Reeve-Irvine Scientific Research
Limiting Secondary Degeneration after SCI
After the initial trauma to the spinal cord, several processes occur that actually make the injury worse. Chemicals released from damaged cells, including the neurotransmitters nerve cells use to communicate with one another, are toxic when released in large quantities and cause the death of nerve cells that might otherwise survive. These toxins produce a wave of secondary damage during the hours and days after the injury. Then, the body reacts with an immune response that involves an influx of inflammatory cells that clean up the debris from dying cells. This response is part of the healing process, but can also cause secondary damage as the inflammatory cells release molecules to digest degeneration debris.
There is also a progressive loss of the supporting cells that form the myelin sheath, which continues for weeks and even months. Loss of the myelin insulation further compromises function. An important target for therapy involves approaches that seek to limit secondary degeneration. Examples include studies of ways to reduce "excitotoxic" cell death after injury, which results from the un-controlled release of neurotransmitters (Os Steward, John Weiss), and studies of chemical signals that control the inflammatory response (Aileen Anderson, Hans Keirstead, Tom Lane).
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