Researchers Seek to Better Understand and Treat Weakened Immune Systems due to Spinal Cord Injury

Phillip Popovich, PhD (Photo courtesy of the Wexner Medical Center Website)While people with spinal cord injuries frequently contract infections, the reasons why their immune systems are suppressed have been largely unknown. According to a recent study by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, autonomic dysreflexia (AD), a potentially dangerous disorder “characterized by exaggerated activation of spinal autonomic reflexes,” is one of the causes of this immune compromise. "Our research offers an explanation for why people with spinal cord injuries develop a condition referred to as 'central immune depression syndrome.' Their immune systems, which are required to fight off infection, are suppressed due to damage or malfunction in regions of the spinal cord that help control immune function," said principal investigator Phillip G. Popovich, Professor of Neuroscience at Ohio State. Additionally, researchers have found that autonomic dysreflexia develops spontaneously in spinal cord injured mice and becomes more frequent as time passes. Popovich and other researchers have promisingly been able to restore immune function in mice using drugs that inhibit norepinephrine and glucocorticoids, immune modulatory hormones produced during AD that contribute to immune suppression. "Our research is laying the groundwork for potential therapeutic targets for reversing central immune depression syndrome," said Zhang, a post-doctoral neuroscience researcher at Ohio State.

Check out more information at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center website:

"Ohio State Researchers Restore Immune Function in Spinal Injured Mice."