Article

Effective recovery from functional impairments caused by traumatic
brain injury (TBI) requires appropriate rehabilitation therapy. Multiple pathways
are involved in secondary injury and recovery suggesting a role for multimodal
approaches. OBJECTIVE: Here, we examined the efficacy of the anti-inflammatory
agent minocycline and botulinum toxin (botox)-induced limb constraint with
structured physical therapy, delivered alone or in combination, after a severe
TBI produced by a controlled cortical impact in rats. METHODS: Minocycline was
administered at 25 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks beginning 1 day after TBI or sham
surgery. For constraint/physical therapy, botox-type A was injected into the
nonaffected forearm muscle 1 day after injury and 2 weeks of physical therapy
commenced at 5 days after injury. Functional evaluations were conducted 8 weeks
after injury. RESULTS: Minocycline, either as a monotherapy or as combination
treatment with botox/physical therapy significantly reduced impairments of
spatial learning and memory in the water maze test, whereas botox/physical
therapy reduced forelimb motor asymmetry and improved manual dexterity in the
cylinder and vermicelli handling tests, A synergistic effect between the 2
treatments was observed when rats performed tasks requiring dexterity.
Inflammation was attenuated in the peri-contusion cortex and hippocampus in all
TBI groups receiving mono or combination therapies, though there was no
significant difference in lesion size among groups. CONCLUSION: These data
provide a rationale for incorporating anti-inflammatory treatment during
rehabilitation therapy.

Langue : ANGLAIS