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Assessment of Lesion and Tissue Sparing Volumes Following Spinal Cord Injury

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Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries II

Part of the book series: Springer Protocols Handbooks ((SPH))

Abstract

Spinal cord trauma causes acute hemorrhage and ischemia, which in turn initiate a cascade of secondary events resulting in cell death and loss of neural tissue at the site of impact. In contusion or compression injuries, the ensuing tissue damage can extend several segments rostral and caudal to the initial insult. Careful quantitative evaluation of the lesion site and measurement of damaged and spared tissue volumes are essential if one is to fully understand the substrates that underlie functional loss and recovery. For example, neuroprotective strategies can improve the sparing of gray and white matter regions that support recovery. Alternatively, reparative strategies may reduce cavitation, alter cellular invasion or tissue contracture, or enhance axonal growth or regeneration. Interpretation of each of these possibilities depends on accurate estimation of the tissue reference volumes. This chapter provides a brief review of the historical context for measuring tissue volumes following spinal cord injury (SCI) in rodent models. Then, procedures are given for determining unbiased estimates of the volume of SCI lesions and spared tissue as well as cellular component volume fractions. The described methods utilize digital images and simple stereological tools that can be applied without sophisticated three-dimensional reconstruction or dedicated stereology software. Finally, the effects of tissue shrinkage on other outcome measures that might be relevant in SCI research studies are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for development of these protocols in our laboratory has been provided by NINDS and Spinal Research (International Spinal Research Trust) and the OSU Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair. The author would like to thank a number of people for discussions and technical assistance in developing these methods, including Dana McTigue, Ping Wei, Ying Chen, and Feng Qin Yin. Methods and three pictures in Fig. 3a were adapted with permission from unpublished protocols of the Spinal Cord Injury Training Manual, NINDS, Facilities of Research Excellence in Spinal Cord Injury, © The Ohio State University, 2004–2010.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA

    Lyn B. Jakeman

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  1. Lyn B. Jakeman
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Correspondence to Lyn B. Jakeman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Terrace St. 3500, Pittsburgh, 15213, Pennsylvania, USA

    Jun Chen

  2. School of Medicine, Stark Neurosciences Res. Inst., Indiana University, W. Walnut St. 950, Indianapolis, 46202, Indiana, USA

    Xiao-Ming Xu

  3. School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Indiana University, Barnhill Dr. 635, Indianapolis, 46202, Indiana, USA

    Zao C. Xu

  4. School of Medicine, Dept. Neurosurgery, Loma Linda University, Anderson St. 11234, Loma Linda, 92354, California, USA

    John H. Zhang

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Jakeman, L.B. (2012). Assessment of Lesion and Tissue Sparing Volumes Following Spinal Cord Injury. In: Chen, J., Xu, XM., Xu, Z., Zhang, J. (eds) Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries II. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-782-8_37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-782-8_37

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-781-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-782-8

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