Lentiviral Interleukin-10 Gene Therapy Preserves Fine Motor Circuitry and Function After a Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Male and Female Mice

We examined behavioral recovery using a ladder beam, tissue sparing using histology, and electromyogram recordings using intraspinal optogenetic stimulation at 2  weeks post-injury. Ladder beam analysis shows interleukin-10 treatment results in significant improvement of behavioral recovery at 2 and 12 weeks post-injury when compared to mice treated with a control virus. Histology shows interleukin-10 results in greater numbers of lower motor neurons, axon s, and muscle innervation at 2 weeks post-injury. Furthermore, electromyogram recordings suggest that interleukin-10-treated animals have signal-to-noise ratios and peak-to-peak amplitudes more similar to that of uninjured controls than to that of control injured animals at 2 weeks post-injury. Th ese data show that gene therapy using anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 can significantly reduce tissue damage and subsequent motor deficits after a spinal cord injury. Together, these results suggest that early modulation of the injury response can preserve muscle function with long-lasting benefits .

Source: Neurotherapeutics - October 13, 2020 Category: Neurology Source Type: research