PROGESTERONE REDUCES SECONDARY DAMAGE, PRESERVES WHITE MATTER, AND IMPROVES LOCOMOTOR OUTCOME ADTER SPINAL CORED INJURY

GARCIA OVEJERO DANIEL; GONZALEZ SUSANA; PANIAGUA TORIJA BEATRIZ; LIMA, ANALÍA; MOLINA-HOLGADO EDUARDO; ALEJANDRO F. DE NICOLA; FLORENCIA LABOMBARDA

JOURNAL OF NEUROTRAUMA.

MARY ANN LIEBERT INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2014 vol. 31 p. 857 - 871

0897-7151

Progesterone is an anti-inflammatory and promyelinating agent after spinal cord injury, but its effectiveness on functionalrecovery is still controversial. In the current study, we tested the effects of chronic progesterone administration on tissuepreservation and functional recovery in a clinically relevant model of spinal cord lesion (thoracic contusion). Using magneticresonance imaging, we observed that progesterone reduced both volume and rostrocaudal extension of the lesion at 60 dayspost-injury. In addition, progesterone increased the number of total mature oligodendrocytes, myelin basic protein immunoreactivity,and the number of axonal profiles at the epicenter of the lesion. Further, progesterone treatment significantlyimproved motor outcome as assessed using the Basso-Bresnahan-Beattie scale for locomotion and CatWalk gait analysis.These data suggest that progesterone could be considered a promising therapeutical candidate for spinal cord injury.