Abstract #1409
Experimental TBI Results in Pathophysiology Resembling Motor Neuron Disease
David K Wright 1,2 , Chris Van Der Poel 3 , Li Yang 4 , Stuart McDonald 3 , Roger Ordidge 1 , Terence J O'Brien 4 , Leigh A Johnston 5 , and Sandy R Shultz 4
1
Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, The
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,
2
The
Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health,
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,
3
Department
of Human Biosciences, La Trobe University, Victoria,
Australia,
4
Department
of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia,
5
NeuroEngineering
Laboratory, School of Engineering, The University of
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been controversially
proposed as a risk factor for the later onset of
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here we studied the
potential relationship between TBI and ALS in an
experimental model of TBI using MRI, pathology and
behavioural analyses. TBI rats had significant motor
cortex atrophy, corticospinal tract degeneration,
increased expression of TDP-43, motor neuron loss,
increased expression of m-calpain and atrogin-1, muscle
atrophy and behavioural impairments. Taken together,
these findings resemble the pathological and functional
abnormalities common in ALS, and support the notion that
TBI can induce a progressive ALS-like disease process.
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