From single to combinatorial therapies in spinal cord injuries for structural and functional restoration

Spinal cord injury results in paralysis, sensory disturbances, sphincter dysfunction, and multiple systemic secondary conditions, most arising from autonomic dysregulation. All this produces profound negative psychosocial implications for affected people, their families, and their communities;the financial costs can be challenging for their families and health institutions. Treatments aimed at restoring the spinal cord after spinal cord injury, which have been tested in animal models or clinical trials, generally seek to counteract one or more of the secondary mechanisms of injury to limit the extent of the initial damage. Most published works on structural/functional restoration in acute and chronic spinal cord injury stages use a single type of treatment: a drug or trophic factor, transplant of a cell type, and implantation of a biomaterial. Despite the significant benefits reported in animal models, when translating these successful therapeutic strategies to humans, the result in clinical trials has been considered of little relevance because the improvement, when present, is usually insufficient. Until now, most studies designed to promote neuroprotection or regeneration at different stages after spinal cord injury have used single treatments. Considering the occurrence of various secondary mechanisms of injury in the acute and sub-acute phases of spinal cord injury, it is reasonable to speculate that more than one therapeutic agent could be required to promote structural and functional restoration of the damaged spinal cord. Treatments that combine several therapeutic agents, targeting different mechanisms of injury, which, when used as a single therapy, have shown some benefits, allow us to assume that they will have synergistic beneficial effects. Thus, this narrative review article aims to summarize current trends in the use of strategies that combine therapeutic agents administered simultaneously or sequentially, seeking structural and functional restoration of the injured spinal cord.

Decision-Making and Management of Self-Care in Persons with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: A Preliminary Study

Patients and physicians understand the importance of self-care following spinal cord injury (SCI), yet many individuals with SCI do not adhere to recommended self-care activities despite logistical supports. Neurobehavioral determinants of SCI self-care behavior, such as impulsivity, are not widely studied, yet understanding them could inform efforts to improve SCI self-care. We explored associations between impulsivity and self-care in an observational study of 35 US adults age 18 - 50 who had traumatic SCI with paraplegia at least six months before assessment. The primary outcome measure was self-reported self-care. In LASSO regression models that included all neurobehavioral measures and demographics as predictors of self-care, dispositional measures of greater impulsivity (negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance), and reduced mindfulness were associated with reduced self-care. Outcome (magnitude) sensitivity, a latent decision-making parameter derived from computationally modeling successive choices in a gambling task, was also associated with self-care behavior. These results are preliminary;more research is needed to demonstrate the utility of these findings in clinical settings. Information about associations between impulsivity and poor self-care in people with SCI could guide the development of interventions to improve SCI self-care and help patients with elevated risks related to self-care and secondary health conditions.

Prospects for the use of olfactory mucosa cells in bioprinting for the treatment of spinal cord injuries

The review focuses on the most important areas of cell therapy for spinal cord injuries.Olfactory mucosa cells are promising for transplantation.Obtaining these cells is safe for patients.The use of olfactory mucosa cells is effective in restoring motor function due to the remyelination and regeneration of axons after spinal cord injuries.These cells express neurotrophic factors that play an important role in the functional recovery of nerve tissue after spinal cord injuries.In addition,it is possible to increase the content of neurotrophic factors,at the site of injury,exogenously by the direct injection of neurotrophic factors or their delivery using gene therapy.The advantages of olfactory mucosa cells,in combination with neurotrophic factors,open up wide possibilities for their application in threedimensional and four-dimensional bioprinting technology treating spinal cord injuries.

Technical comments on rodent spinal cord injuries models

Spinal cord injuries （SCI） in rodents have been created by laceration, contusion, compression, or intramedullary injection of toxic agents. The choice of an appropriate SCI model should be made for each study based on the experimental design, with care taken to avoid unintended complications such as hemorrhage. Technical comments will be made in this communication describing the 1） importance of vertebral stabi- lization, 2） injury preparation, and 3） landmarks to improve the preci- sion and reproducibility of the SCI.

New insight into curcumin-based therapy in spinal cord injuries： CISD2 regulation

Multiple protective effects of curcumin in cases of spinal cord injuries（SCIs）：Curcumin[1,7-bis（4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl）-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione]is a nonsteroidal,naturally occurring compound commonly utilized as a dietary pigment as well as a spice in India.It is obtained from curcuma longa in.

Clinical features of multiple trauma patients combined with spine and spinal cord injuries

Objective To analyze the clinical features of the multiple trauma patients combined with spine and spinal cord injuries.Methods A retrospective study was performed in143multiple trauma patients combined with spine and spinal

Stem cells for spinal cord injuries bearing translational potential

Spinal cord injury （SCI） is a highly debilitating neurological disease, which still lacks effective treatment strategies, causing significant financial burden and distress to the affected families. Nevertheless, nanotechnology and regenerative medicine strategies holding promise for the development of novel therapies that would reach from bench to bedside to serve the SCI patients. There has already been significant progress in the field of cell-based therapies, with the clinical application for SCI, currently in phase II of the clinical trial. Stem cells （e.g., induced pluripotent stem cells, fetal stem cells, human embryonic stem cells, and olfactory ensheathing cells） are certainly not to be considered the panacea for neural repair but, especially when combined with rehabilitation or other combinatorial approaches using the help of nanotechnology, they seem to be the source of some of the most promising and clinical translatable cell-based therapies that could help solving impactful problems on neural repair.

Sacral anterior root stimulated defecation in spinal cord injuries: An experimental study in canine model

AIM: To investigate whether there was a dominant sacral root for the motive function of rectum and anal sphincter, and to provide an experimental basis for sacral root electrically stimulated defecation in spinal cord injuries. METHODS: Eleven spinal cord injured mongrel dogs were included in the study. After L4-L7 laminectomy, the bilateral L7-S3 roots were electrostimulated separately and rectal and sphincter pressure were recorded synchronously. Four animals were implanted electrodes on bilateral S2 roots. RESULTS: For rectal motorial innervation, S2 was the most dominant (mean 15.2 kPa, 37.7% of total pressure), S1(11.3 kPa, 27.6%) and S3 (10.9 kPa, 26.7%) contributed to a smaller part. For external anal sphincter, S3 (mean 17.2 kPa, 33.7%) was the most dominant, S2 (16.2 kPa, 31.6%) and S1(14.3 kPa, 27.9%) contributed to a lesser but still a significant part. Above 85% L7 roots provided some functional contribution to rectum and anal sphincter. For both rectum and sphincter, the right sacral roots provided more contribution than the left roots. Postoperatively, the 4 dogs had electrically stimulated defecation and micturition under the control of the neuroprosthetic device. CONCLUSION: S2 root is the most dominant contributor to rectal pressure in dogs. Stimulation of bilateral S2 with implanted electrodes contributes to good micturition and defecation in dogs.

Evaluation of Patients Who Received Robotic Therapy after Spinal Cord Injuries

Background: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the robotic device used in lower limb rehabilitation to reduce motor impairment and improve motor performance in patients with traumatic spinal injury. Methods: The data were obtained by retrospective analysis of patients who underwent lower extremity rehabilitation after traumatic spinal injury by robot-assisted rehabilitation in the hospital between December 2017 and December 2019. The results were statistically analyzed and shown as mean ± SD (min-max). Results: A total of 51 patients with mean age of 59.51 ± 8.2 (38 - 72) were admitted to the clinic. Mean ages of thirty-one male patients and twenty females patients were 58.74 ± 8.88 (38 - 77) and 60.7 ± 7.09 (44 - 72), respectively. Comparing ages in terms of gender, it was not statistically significant (p = 0.441). Body mass indexes of male patients were 32.84 ± 6.52 (20 - 48) and 31.4 ± 7.73 (18 - 48) for females. Body mass index of patients was not statistically significant in terms of their gender (p = 0.478). Oswestry disability index scores were 32.04 ± 10.74 (16 - 58) before treatment and 30.69 ± 10.31 (15 - 55) after treatment. Oswestry disability index values before and after robotic rehabilitation were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Significant improvement was observed in ASIA scale values after rehabilitation. Conclusions: The motor function gains obtained during the robot-assisted treatment of traumatic spinal injury patients showed robotic device was useful in the training program. Robotic rehabilitation was effective in the improvement of the lower extremities during motor examination.

Pressure ulcers and acute risk factors in individuals with traumatic spinal fractures with or without spinal cord injuries:A prospective analysis of the National Spinal Column/Cord Injury Registry of Iran(NSCIR-IR)data

Purpose:To identify risk factors for developing pressure ulcers(PUs)in the acute care period of traumatic spinal fracture patients with or without spinal cord injuries(SCIs).Methods:Data were collected prospectively in participating the National Spinal column/Cord Injury Registry of Iran(NSCIR-IR)from individuals with traumatic spinal fractures with or without SCIs,in-clusive of the hospital stay from admission to discharge.Trained nursing staff examined the patients for the presence of PUs every 8 h during their hospital stay.The presence and grade of PUs were assessed according to the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel classification.In addition to PU,following data were also extracted from the NSCIR-IR datasets during the period of 2015-2021:age,sex,Glasgow coma scale score at admission,having SCIs,marital status,surgery for a spinal fracture,American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale(AIS),urinary incontinence,level of education,admitted center,length of stay in the intensive care unit(ICU),hypertension,respiratory diseases,consumption of ciga-rettes,diabetes mellitus and length of stay in the hospital.Logistic regression models were used to es-timate the unadjusted and adjusted odds ratio(OR)with 95%confidence intervals(CI).Results:Altogether 2785 participants with traumatic spinal fractures were included.Among them,87(3.1%)developed PU during their hospital stay and 392(14.1%)had SCIs.In the SCI population,63(16.1%)developed PU during hospital stay.Univariate logistic regression for the whole sample showed that marital status,having SCIs,urinary incontinence,level of education,treating center,number of days in the ICU,age,and Glasgow coma scale score were significant predictors for PUs.However,further analysis by multiple logistic regression only revealed the significant risk factors to be the treating center,marital status,having SCIs,and the number of days in the ICU.For the subgroup of individuals with SCIs,marital status,AIS,urinary incontinence,level of education,the treating center,the number of days in the ICU and the number of days in the hospital were significant predictors for PUs by univariate analysis.After adjustment in the multivariate model,the treating center,marital status(singles vs.marrieds,OR=3.06,95%CI:1.55-6.03,p=0.001),and number of days in the ICU(OR=1.06,95%Cl:1.04-1.09,p<0.001)maintained significance.Conclusions:These data confirm that individuals with traumatic spinal fractures and SCIs,especially single young patients who suffer from urinary incontinence,grades A-D by AIS,prolonged ICU stay,and more extended hospitalization are at increased risk for PUs;as a result strategies to minimize PU development need further refinement.

Screening biomarkers for spinal cord injury using weighted gene co-expression network analysis and machine learning

Immune changes and inflammatory responses have been identified as central events in the pathological process of spinal co rd injury.They can greatly affect nerve regeneration and functional recovery.However,there is still limited understanding of the peripheral immune inflammato ry response in spinal cord inju ry.In this study.we obtained microRNA expression profiles from the peripheral blood of patients with spinal co rd injury using high-throughput sequencing.We also obtained the mRNA expression profile of spinal cord injury patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database(GSE151371).We identified 54 differentially expressed microRNAs and 1656 diffe rentially expressed genes using bioinformatics approaches.Functional enrichment analysis revealed that various common immune and inflammation-related signaling pathways,such as neutrophil extracellular trap formation pathway,T cell receptor signaling pathway,and nuclear factor-κB signal pathway,we re abnormally activated or inhibited in spinal cord inju ry patient samples.We applied an integrated strategy that combines weighted gene co-expression network analysis,LASSO logistic regression,and SVM-RFE algorithm and identified three biomarke rs associated with spinal cord injury:ANO10,BST1,and ZFP36L2.We verified the expression levels and diagnostic perfo rmance of these three genes in the original training dataset and clinical samples through the receiver operating characteristic curve.Quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that ANO20 and BST1 mRNA levels were increased and ZFP36L2 mRNA was decreased in the peripheral blood of spinal cord injury patients.We also constructed a small RNA-mRNA interaction network using Cytoscape.Additionally,we evaluated the proportion of 22 types of immune cells in the peripheral blood of spinal co rd injury patients using the CIBERSORT tool.The proportions of naive B cells,plasma cells,monocytes,and neutrophils were increased while the proportions of memory B cells,CD8^(+)T cells,resting natural killer cells,resting dendritic cells,and eosinophils were markedly decreased in spinal cord injury patients increased compared with healthy subjects,and ANO10,BST1 and ZFP26L2we re closely related to the proportion of certain immune cell types.The findings from this study provide new directions for the development of treatment strategies related to immune inflammation in spinal co rd inju ry and suggest that ANO10,BST2,and ZFP36L2 are potential biomarkers for spinal cord injury.The study was registe red in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry(registration No.ChiCTR2200066985,December 12,2022).

The combined application of stem cells and three-dimensional bioprinting scaffolds for the repair of spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is considered one of the most difficult injuries to repair and has one of the worst prognoses for injuries to the nervous system.Following surgery,the poor regenerative capacity of nerve cells and the generation of new scars can make it very difficult for the impaired nervous system to restore its neural functionality.Traditional treatments can only alleviate secondary injuries but cannot fundamentally repair the spinal cord.Consequently,there is a critical need to develop new treatments to promote functional repair after spinal cord injury.Over recent years,there have been seve ral developments in the use of stem cell therapy for the treatment of spinal cord injury.Alongside significant developments in the field of tissue engineering,three-dimensional bioprinting technology has become a hot research topic due to its ability to accurately print complex structures.This led to the loading of three-dimensional bioprinting scaffolds which provided precise cell localization.These three-dimensional bioprinting scaffolds co uld repair damaged neural circuits and had the potential to repair the damaged spinal cord.In this review,we discuss the mechanisms underlying simple stem cell therapy,the application of different types of stem cells for the treatment of spinal cord injury,and the different manufa cturing methods for three-dimensional bioprinting scaffolds.In particular,we focus on the development of three-dimensional bioprinting scaffolds for the treatment of spinal cord injury.

Epidemiological and clinical features,treatment status,and economic burden of traumatic spinal cord injury in China:a hospital-based retrospective study

Traumatic spinal cord injury is potentially catastrophic and can lead to permanent disability or even death.China has the largest population of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury.Previous studies of traumatic spinal cord injury in China have mostly been regional in scope;national-level studies have been rare.To the best of our knowledge,no national-level study of treatment status and economic burden has been performed.This retrospective study aimed to examine the epidemiological and clinical features,treatment status,and economic burden of traumatic spinal cord injury in China at the national level.We included 13,465 traumatic spinal cord injury patients who were injured between January 2013 and December 2018 and treated in 30 hospitals in 11 provinces/municipalities representing all geographical divisions of China.Patient epidemiological and clinical features,treatment status,and total and daily costs were recorded.Trends in the percentage of traumatic spinal cord injuries among all hospitalized patients and among patients hospitalized in the orthopedic department and cost of care were assessed by annual percentage change using the Joinpoint Regression Program.The percentage of traumatic spinal cord injuries among all hospitalized patients and among patients hospitalized in the orthopedic department did not significantly change overall(annual percentage change,-0.5%and 2.1%,respectively).A total of 10,053(74.7%)patients underwent surgery.Only 2.8%of patients who underwent surgery did so within 24 hours of injury.A total of 2005(14.9%)patients were treated with high-dose(≥500 mg)methylprednisolone sodium succinate/methylprednisolone(MPSS/MP);615(4.6%)received it within 8 hours.The total cost for acute traumatic spinal cord injury decreased over the study period(-4.7%),while daily cost did not significantly change(1.0%increase).Our findings indicate that public health initiatives should aim at improving hospitals’ability to complete early surgery within 24 hours,which is associated with improved sensorimotor recovery,increasing the awareness rate of clinical guidelines related to high-dose MPSS/MP to reduce the use of the treatment with insufficient evidence.

Transplantation of fibrin-thrombin encapsulated human induced neural stem cells promotes functional recovery of spinal cord injury rats through modulation of the microenvironment

Recent studies have mostly focused on engraftment of cells at the lesioned spinal cord,with the expectation that differentiated neurons facilitate recovery.Only a few studies have attempted to use transplanted cells and/or biomaterials as major modulators of the spinal cord injury microenvironment.Here,we aimed to investigate the role of microenvironment modulation by cell graft on functional recovery after spinal cord injury.Induced neural stem cells reprogrammed from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells,and/or thrombin plus fibrinogen,were transplanted into the lesion site of an immunosuppressed rat spinal cord injury model.Basso,Beattie and Bresnahan score,electrophysiological function,and immunofluorescence/histological analyses showed that transplantation facilitates motor and electrophysiological function,reduces lesion volume,and promotes axonal neurofilament expression at the lesion core.Examination of the graft and niche components revealed that although the graft only survived for a relatively short period(up to 15 days),it still had a crucial impact on the microenvironment.Altogether,induced neural stem cells and human fibrin reduced the number of infiltrated immune cells,biased microglia towards a regenerative M2 phenotype,and changed the cytokine expression profile at the lesion site.Graft-induced changes of the microenvironment during the acute and subacute stages might have disrupted the inflammatory cascade chain reactions,which may have exerted a long-term impact on the functional recovery of spinal cord injury rats.

Biochanin A attenuates spinal cord injury in rats during early stages by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammasome activation

Previous studies have shown that Biochanin A,a flavonoid compound with estrogenic effects,can serve as a neuroprotective agent in the context of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury;howeve r,its effect on spinal cord injury is still unclea r. In this study,a rat model of spinal cord injury was established using the heavy o bject impact method,and the rats were then treated with Biochanin A(40 mg/kg) via intrape ritoneal injection for 14 consecutive days.The res ults showed that Biochanin A effectively alleviated spinal cord neuronal injury and spinal co rd tissue injury,reduced inflammation and oxidative stress in spinal cord neuro ns,and reduced apoptosis and pyroptosis.In addition,Biochanin A inhibited the expression of inflammasome-related proteins(ASC,NLRP3,and GSDMD)and the Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-κB pathway,activated the Nrf2/heme oxygenase 1 signaling pathway,and increased the expression of the autophagy markers LC3 Ⅱ,Beclin-1,and P62.Moreove r,the therapeutic effects of Biochanin A on early post-s pinal cord injury were similar to those of methylprednisolone.These findings suggest that Biochanin A protected neurons in the injured spinal cord through the Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor κB and Nrf2/heme oxygenase 1 signaling pathways.These findings suggest that Biochanin A can alleviate post-spinal cord injury at an early stage.

Resident immune responses to spinal cord injury:role of astrocytes and microglia

Spinal cord injury can be traumatic or non-traumatic in origin,with the latter rising in incidence and prevalence with the aging demographics of our society.Moreove r,as the global population ages,individuals with co-existent degenerative spinal pathology comprise a growing number of traumatic spinal cord injury cases,especially involving the cervical spinal cord.This makes recovery and treatment approaches particula rly challenging as age and comorbidities may limit regenerative capacity.For these reasons,it is critical to better understand the complex milieu of spinal cord injury lesion pathobiology and the ensuing inflammatory response.This review discusses microglia-specific purinergic and cytokine signaling pathways,as well as microglial modulation of synaptic stability and plasticity after injury.Further,we evaluate the role of astrocytes in neurotransmission and calcium signaling,as well as their border-forming response to neural lesions.Both the inflammatory and reparative roles of these cells have eluded our complete understanding and remain key therapeutic targets due to their extensive structural and functional roles in the nervous system.Recent advances have shed light on the roles of glia in neurotransmission and reparative injury responses that will change how interventions are directed.Understanding key processes and existing knowledge gaps will allow future research to effectively target these cells and harness their regenerative potential.

Neurophysiological, histological, and behavioral characterization of animal models of distraction spinal cord injury: a systematic review

Distraction spinal cord injury is caused by some degree of distraction or longitudinal tension on the spinal cord and commonly occurs in patients who undergo corrective operation for severe spinal deformity.With the increased degree and duration of distraction,spinal cord injuries become more serious in terms of their neurophysiology,histology,and behavior.Very few studies have been published on the specific characteristics of distraction spinal cord injury.In this study,we systematically review 22 related studies involving animal models of distraction spinal cord injury,focusing particularly on the neurophysiological,histological,and behavioral characteristics of this disease.In addition,we summarize the mechanisms underlying primary and secondary injuries caused by distraction spinal cord injury and clarify the effects of different degrees and durations of distraction on the primary injuries associated with spinal cord injury.We provide new concepts for the establishment of a model of distraction spinal cord injury and related basic research,and provide reference guidelines for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Lupenone improves motor dysfunction in spinal cord injury mice through inhibiting the inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in microglia via the nuclear factor kappa B pathway

Spinal cord injury-induced motor dysfunction is associated with neuroinflammation.Studies have shown that the triterpenoid lupenone,a natural product found in various plants,has a remarkable anti-inflammatory effect in the context of chronic inflammation.However,the effects of lupenone on acute inflammation induced by spinal cord injury remain unknown.In this study,we established an impact-induced mouse model of spinal cord injury,and then treated the injured mice with lupenone(8 mg/kg,twice a day)by intrape ritoneal injection.We also treated BV2 cells with lipopolysaccharide and adenosine5’-triphosphate to simulate the inflammatory response after spinal cord injury.Our res ults showed that lupenone reduced IKBa activation and p65 nuclear translocation,inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome function by modulating nuclear factor kappa B,and enhanced the conve rsion of proinflammatory M1 mic roglial cells into anti-inflammatory M2 microglial cells.Furthermore,lupenone decreased NLRP3 inflammasome activation,NLRP3-induced mic roglial cell polarization,and microglia pyroptosis by inhibiting the nuclear factor kappa B pathway.These findings suggest that lupenone protects against spinal cord injury by inhibiting inflammasomes.

The secondary injury cascade after spinal cord injury:an analysis of local cytokine/chemokine regulation

After spinal cord injury,there is an extensive infiltration of immune cells,which exacerbates the injury and leads to further neural degeneration.Therefore,a major aim of current research involves targeting the immune response as a treatment for spinal cord injury.Although much research has been performed analyzing the complex inflammatory process following spinal cord injury,there remain major discrepancies within previous literature regarding the timeline of local cytokine regulation.The objectives of this study were to establish an overview of the timeline of cytokine regulation for 2 weeks after spinal cord injury,identify sexual dimorphisms in terms of cytokine levels,and determine local cytokines that significantly change based on the severity of spinal cord injury.Rats were inflicted with either a mild contusion,moderate contusion,severe contusion,or complete transection,7 mm of spinal cord centered on the injury was harvested at varying times post-injury,and tissue homogenates were analyzed with a Cytokine/Chemokine 27-Plex assay.Results demonstrated pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factorα,interleukin-1β,and interleukin-6 were all upregulated after spinal cord injury,but returned to uninjured levels within approximately 24 hours post-injury,while chemokines including monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 remained upregulated for days post-injury.In contrast,several anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors including interleukin-10 and vascular endothelial growth factor were downregulated by 7 days post-injury.After spinal cord injury,tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1,which specifically affects astrocytes involved in glial scar development,increased more than all other cytokines tested,reaching 26.9-fold higher than uninjured rats.After a mild injury,11 cytokines demonstrated sexual dimorphisms;however,after a severe contusion only leptin levels were different between female and male rats.In conclusion,pro-inflammatory cytokines initiate the inflammatory process and return to baseline within hours post-injury,chemokines continue to recruit immune cells for days post-injury,while anti-inflammatory cytokines are downregulated by a week post-injury,and sexual dimorphisms observed after mild injury subsided with more severe injuries.Results from this work define critical chemokines that influence immune cell infiltration and important cytokines involved in glial scar development after spinal cord injury,which are essential for researchers developing treatments targeting secondary damage after spinal cord injury.

Photobiomodulation inhibits the expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans after spinal cord injury via the Sox9 pathway

Both glial cells and glia scar greatly affect the development of spinal cord injury and have become hot spots in research on spinal cord injury treatment.The cellular deposition of dense extracellular matrix proteins such as chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans inside and around the glial scar is known to affect axonal growth and be a major obstacle to autogenous repair.These proteins are thus candidate targets for spinal cord injury therapy.Our previous studies demonstrated that 810 nm photo biomodulation inhibited the formation of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans after spinal cord injury and greatly improved motor function in model animals.However,the specific mechanism and potential targets involved remain to be clarified.In this study,to investigate the therapeutic effect of photo biomodulation,we established a mouse model of spinal cord injury by T9 clamping and irradiated the injury site at a power density of 50 mW/cm~2 for 50 minutes once a day for 7 consecutive days.We found that photobiomodulation greatly restored motor function in mice and down regulated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan expression in the injured spinal cord.Bioinformatics analysis revealed that photobiomodulation inhibited the expression of proteoglycan-related genes induced by spinal cord injury,and versican,a type of proteoglycan,was one of the most markedly changed molecules.Immunofluorescence staining showed that after spinal cord injury,versican was present in astrocytes in spinal cord tissue.The expression of versican in primary astrocytes cultured in vitro increased after inflammation induction,whereas photobiomodulation inhibited the expression of ve rsican.Furthermore,we found that the increased levels of p-Smad3,p-P38 and p-Erk in inflammatory astrocytes were reduced after photobiomodulation treatment and after delivery of inhibitors including FR 180204,(E)-SIS3,and SB 202190.This suggests that Sma d 3/Sox9 and MAP K/Sox9 pathways may be involved in the effects of photobiomodulation.In summary,our findings show that photobiomodulation modulates the expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans,and versican is one of the key target molecules of photo biomodulation.MAPK/Sox9 and Smad3/Sox9 pathways may play a role in the effects of photo biomodulation on chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan accumulation after spinal cord injury.