Positive effect of microvascular proliferation on functional recovery in experimental cervical spondylotic myelopathy

Xu-Xiang Wang; Guang-Sheng Li; Kang-Heng Wang; Xiao-Song Hu; Yong Hu

doi:10.3389/fnins.2024.1254600

Positive effect of microvascular proliferation on functional recovery in experimental cervical spondylotic myelopathy

Front Neurosci. 2024 Mar 6:18:1254600. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1254600. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Xu-Xiang Wang^#¹, Guang-Sheng Li^#^{1

2}, Kang-Heng Wang^{1

2}, Xiao-Song Hu^{1

3}, Yong Hu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China.
² Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
³ Orthopedics Center, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy (CSM), the most common cause of spinal cord dysfunction globally, is a degenerative disease that results in non-violent, gradual, and long-lasting compression of the cervical spinal cord. The objective of this study was to investigate whether microvascular proliferation could positively affect neural function recovery in experimental cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM).

Methods: A total of 60 male adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) were randomly divided into four groups: Control (CON), Compression (COM), Angiostasis (AS), and Angiogenesis (A G),with 15 rats in each group. Rats in the AS group received SU5416 to inhibit angiogenesis, while rats in the AG group received Deferoxamine (DFO) to promote angiogenesis. Motor and sensory functions were assessed using the Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) scale and somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) examination. Neuropathological degeneration was evaluated by the number of neurons, Nissl bodies (NB), and the de-myelination of white matter detected by Hematoxylin & Eosin(HE), Toluidine Blue (TB), and Luxol Fast Blue (LFB) staining. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to observe the Neurovascular Unit (NVU).

Results: Rats in the CON group exhibited normal locomotor function with full BBB score, normal SEP latency and amplitude. Among the other three groups, the AG group had the highest BBB score and the shortest SEP latency, while the AS group had the lowest BBB score and the most prolonged SEP latency. The SEP amplitude showed an opposite performance to the latency. Compared to the COM and AS groups, the AG group demonstrated significant neuronal restoration in gray matter and axonal remyelination in white matter. DFO promoted microvascular proliferation, especially in gray matter, and improved the survival of neuroglial cells. In contrast, SU-5416 inhibited the viability of neuroglial cells by reducing micro vessels.

Conclusion: The microvascular status was closely related to NVU remodeling an-d functional recovery. Therefore, proliferation of micro vessels contributed to function -al recovery in experimental CSM, which may be associated with NVU remodeling.

Keywords: cervical spondylotic myelopathy; chronic; microvascular proliferation; neural repair; recovery.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFF0501600). The funders had no roles in the study design, conduction of experiment, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.