Tsang-Wei Tu1, Joong Hee Kim2, Sheng-Kwei Song2
1Mechanical, Aerospace and Structrual Engineering, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA; 2Radiology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
In addition to the direct mechanical damage after spinal cord injury (SCI), secondary injury plays a crucial role in the progressive degeneration of the spinal cord. The lack of myelin sheaths in shiverer mice may provide a more hospitable environment for axonal regeneration after SCI. The long-term functional outcome is affected by both the initial damage and the extent of secondary injury. The less severely effected DTI parameters and hindlimb locomotion in shiverer mice suggest that the lack of myelin debris may indeed have significantly inhibition to the axonal regeneration in SCI. Our data suggest that the different degrees of recovery are probably due to the lack of myelin debris in the shiverer mice.