Among the most devastating sequelae of spinal cord injury (SCI) are genitourinary and gastrointestinal dysfunctions. Post-ganglionic neurons in pelvic ganglia (PG) directly innervate and regulate the function of the lower urinary tract (LUT), bowel, and sexual organs. A better understanding of how SCI affects PG neurons is essential to develop therapeutic strategies for devastating gastrointestinal and genitourinary complications ensuing after injury. To evaluate the impact of SCI on the morphology of PG neurons, we used a well- characterized rat model of upper thoracic SCI (T3 transection) that causes severe autonomic dysfunction. Using immunohistochemistry for neuronal markers, the neuronal profile size frequency distribution was quantified at one-, four-, and eight-weeks post SCI using recursive translation. Our investigation revealed an SCI-dependent leftward shift in neuronal size (i.e. atrophy), observable as early as one-week post injury. However, this effect was more pronounced at four and eight-weeks post-SCI. These findings demonstrate the first characterization of SCI-associated temporal changes in morphology of PG neurons and warrant further investigation to facilitate development of therapeutic strategies for recovery of autonomic functions following SCI.

中文翻译：

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脊髓损伤导致骨盆神经节神经元萎缩。

泌尿生殖系统和胃肠道功能障碍是最严重的脊髓损伤后遗症（SCI）。骨盆神经节（PG）的神经节后神经元直接神经支配并调节下尿路（LUT），肠和性器官的功能。更好地了解SCI如何影响PG神经元，对于制定破坏性胃肠道和泌尿生殖系统并发症的治疗策略至关重要。为了评估SCI对PG神经元形态的影响，我们使用了特征明确的大鼠上胸SCI（T3横切）模型，该模型会导致严重的自主神经功能障碍。使用免疫组化的神经元标记物，在SCI后1周，4周和8周使用递归翻译对神经元轮廓大小的频率分布进行定量。我们的研究显示，神经损伤大小（即萎缩）呈SCI依赖性向左移动，最早可在伤后1周观察到。但是，这种影响在脊髓损伤后四周和八周时更为明显。这些发现证明了PG神经元形态与SCI相关的时间变化的第一个特征，并值得进一步研究以促进发展SCI后恢复自主功能的治疗策略。