Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki, Japan.
Department of Neurophysiology, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki, Japan.
J Neurotrauma. 2020 Nov 1;37(21):2235-2243. doi: 10.1089/neu.2019.6929. Epub 2020 Jul 30.
It has been reported that female rats have a sex-related advantage in functional recovery and neuroprotection after spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the association between anxiety and neurological function after SCI in female and male rats remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine sex-related differences in anxiety and neurological dysfunction after SCI in adult C57/BL6 male and female mice. After laminectomy at the 10th thoracic level, a contusive SCI was induced. The sham group received only a T10 laminectomy. Behavior testing (anxiety, motor/sensory function) was performed for 6 weeks after SCI. The spinal cord and preserved myelinated areas at the epicenter were histologically evaluated. Correlations between anxiety and motor/sensory function or histological parameters were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Female and male mice showed significantly higher anxiety-like behaviors after SCI than before SCI. Anxiousness was significantly higher in female mice than in male mice after SCI. There was no significant difference in motor/sensory functions and histological features between the two groups. Anxiety-like behaviors were significantly correlated with sensory function at 2 weeks after SCI in female mice and with motor function at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after SCI in male mice. Anxiety-like behaviors were not significantly correlated with the spinal cord area at the epicenter in female and male mice. Our results revealed that female mice became more anxious than male mice after SCI. Anxiety-like behavior after SCI may be associated with functional recovery, and improving anxiety may affect functional recovery after injury.
据报道，雌性大鼠在脊髓损伤（SCI）后功能恢复和神经保护方面具有性别相关优势。然而，SCI 后雌性和雄性大鼠焦虑与神经功能之间的关系尚不清楚。本研究旨在检查成年 C57/BL6 雄性和雌性小鼠 SCI 后焦虑和神经功能障碍的性别差异。在第 10 胸椎水平进行椎板切除术，然后诱导挫伤性 SCI。假手术组仅接受 T10 椎板切除术。SCI 后 6 周进行行为测试（焦虑、运动/感觉功能）。对损伤中心的脊髓和保存的有髓区域进行组织学评估。使用 Spearman 相关系数分析焦虑与运动/感觉功能或组织学参数之间的相关性。雌性和雄性小鼠在 SCI 后表现出明显更高的焦虑样行为，比 SCI 前更高。SCI 后，雌性小鼠的焦虑程度明显高于雄性小鼠。两组之间的运动/感觉功能和组织学特征没有差异。在 SCI 后 2 周的雌性小鼠中，焦虑样行为与感觉功能显著相关，而在 SCI 后 2、4 和 6 周的雄性小鼠中，焦虑样行为与运动功能显著相关。焦虑样行为与雌性和雄性小鼠损伤中心的脊髓面积无显著相关性。我们的结果表明，SCI 后雌性小鼠比雄性小鼠更容易出现焦虑。SCI 后的焦虑样行为可能与功能恢复有关，改善焦虑可能会影响损伤后的功能恢复。
