Several studies have shown that gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) have extra-pituitary roles, including neurotrophic effects. This study was to evaluate the effects of GnRH treatment on the spinal cord injury (SCI) of rats. Ovariectomized rats were divided into: sham SCI surgery (Sham), SCI treated with saline solution (SCI + SS), and SCI treated with GnRH (SCI + GnRH). The SCI was induced by compression. One day after the lesion, SCI + GnRH group was injected with GnRH (60 µg/kg/twice/day; i.m.) for 15 days and the other groups with saline solution. To kinematic gait analysis, length and velocity of the stride were measured. In spinal cord, axonal morphometry and spared white and gray matter were analyzed by histochemistry. Protein expression of spinophilin was evaluated by western blot. The results showed that, 5 weeks after the injury, the group of animals treated with GnRH, significantly increased the length and velocity of the stride compared to SCI + SS group and they were similar to Sham group. In spinal cord, GnRH treatment increased the number and caliber of nerve axons and in the case of white matter, spared tissue was significantly higher than those animals treated with saline solution. The expression of spinophilin in spinal cord of SCI + GnRH group was slightly increased with respect to those not treated. In conclusion, GnRH treatment improves recovery of gait and decreases histopathological damage in the injured spinal cord of rat. These findings suggest that GnRH acts as a neurotrophic factor and can be used as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of SCI.
Los coleópteros son el orden de insectos más diverso y estudiado del mundo. Sin embargo, el conocimiento de su diversidad en Chihuahua es escaso. En este estudio se comparó la diversidad de coleópteros en dos comunidades vegetales (pastizal de zacate navajita y bosque de encino-pino). Las colectas se realizaron mensualmente en un periodo de seis meses, de junio a noviembre de 2018. Se definieron transectos lineales en ambas comunidades donde se emplearon dos métodos de recolecta. Se determinó la riqueza específica y la abundancia para cada comunidad vegetal. Para evaluar la diversidad de especies de coleópteros para cada tipo de vegetación, se utilizó el método del número de especies efectivas. Para evaluar cómo cambian las abundancias relativas se utilizó una curva de rango-abundancia y se realizó un escalamiento multidimensional no-métrico para evaluar la similitud entre comunidades. Se obtuvo un total de 209 individuos, clasificados en 12 familias, 29 géneros y 42 especies y morfo especies. El mayor número de individuos y de especies se encontró en el bosque de encino-pino. Sin embargo, los índices demostraron que existe una mayor diversidad en los pastizales (16.6 especies efectivas) comparada con los bosques de encino-pino (8.5 especies efectivas). La similitud entre comunidades fue baja, lo cual puede estar determinada por la presencia de especies exclusivas asociadas para cada comunidad (20 para el bosque de pino-encino y 14 para el pastizal). Se enlistan 13 especies, siete géneros y una familia como nuevos registros para el estado de Chihuahua.
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