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Approximately 17,000 people living in the United States will experience traumatic spinal cord injury in any given year. A severe complication associated with spinal cord injury is the loss of respiratory function, which often occurs due to paralysis of the diaphragm muscle. A 2018 study showed that BDNF delivery to the injured spinal cord improved respiratory function in rats.

Previous research has demonstrated that systemic delivery of neurotrophic factors is associated with many undesirable side effects, such as muscle spasms and chronic pain, and exerts reduced efficacy. The authors of the current study used a water-based gel to deliver a solution of polysaccharide-BDNF particles to spinal cord-injured female rats. This delivery mode keeps the BDNF at the site of injury instead of allowing it to become more widely distributed. Then they measured the action potential in the rats' diaphragm muscle.

They found that the BDNF hydrogel improved diaphragm muscle contractility by more than 60 percent, likely due to BDNF-mediated protection and/or restoration of neurons that innervate the diaphragm.

These findings suggest that targeted delivery of BDNF is a viable strategy for preserving respiratory function following traumatic spinal cord injury.

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