Neurotrophic factors-based therapeutic strategies in the spinal cord injury: an overview of recent preclinical studies in rodent models

Abstract

Abstract Following the traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) and initial mechanical insult, a cascade of secondary cellular and molecular events occurs at the trauma site. This phenomenon develops a toxic lesion environment with an inhibitory effect on axonal regeneration. The complicated pathophysiology of SCI and limited central nervous system (CNS) to regeneration caused non-effective responses to drugs or beneficial treatments. Considering the necessity of SCI treatment as a critical issue in the medical field, finding novel therapeutic approaches and preclinical strategies to overcome secondary damage and functional recovery after SCI is the health system's priority. Different growth factors (GFs) are useful for treating SCI by promoting axonal regeneration and functional recovery. However, due to rapid degradation and dilution at the damaged site, direct administration of GFs is limited. In this regard, the type of delivered neurotrophic factors (NFs), administration mode, the time and location of application, and duration of treatment are critical factors in the therapy process. Also, in human studies adequate combination of NFs using cellular and viral vehicles with different tissue engineering materials is suggested to achieve satisfactory functional recovery following acute SCI. In this review, we summarize the finding of recent articles in the field of using different NFs and novel delivering systems for the treatment of SCI, which have been undertaken in rodent models.

Keywords

• Spinal cord injury
• Neurotrophic factors
• Functional recovery
• Brain-derived neurotrophic factor