Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes motor and sensory deficits and is currently considered an incurable disease. We have previously reported that administration of anti-High Mobility Group Box-1 monoclonal antibody (anti-HMGB1 mAb) preserved lesion area and improved locomotion recovery in mouse model of SCI. In order to further enhance the recovery, we here examined combinatorial treatment of anti-HMGB1 mAb and epothilone B (Epo B), which has been reported to promote axon regeneration. This combinatorial treatment significantly increased hindlimb movement compared with anti-HMGB1 mAb alone, although Epo B alone failed to increase functional recovery. These results are in agreement with that anti-HMGB1 mAb alone was able to decrease the lesion area spreading and increase the surviving neuron numbers around the lesion, whereas Epo B facilitated axon outgrowth only in combination with anti-HMGB1 mAb, suggesting that anti-HMGB1 mAb-dependent tissue preservation is necessary for Epo B to exhibit its therapeutic effect. Taken together, the combinatorial treatment can be considered as a novel and clinically applicable strategy for SCI.

脊髓损伤 (SCI) 会导致运动和感觉障碍，目前被认为是一种不治之症。我们之前曾报道过，在 SCI 小鼠模型中，使用抗高迁移率组 Box-1 单克隆抗体（抗 HMGB1 mAb）可保留病变区域并改善运动恢复。为了进一步提高恢复，我们在这里检查了抗 HMGB1 mAb 和埃坡霉素 B (Epo B) 的组合治疗，据报道其可促进轴突再生。与单独的抗 HMGB1 mAb 相比，这种组合治疗显着增加了后肢运动，尽管单独的 Epo B 未能增加功能恢复。这些结果与单独使用抗 HMGB1 mAb 能够减少病变区域扩散并增加病变周围存活的神经元数量一致，而 Epo B 仅与抗 HMGB1 mAb 结合促进轴突生长，表明抗 HMGB1 mAb 依赖性组织保存对于 Epo B 显示其治疗效果是必要的。综上所述，组合治疗可被视为 SCI 的一种新颖且临床适用的策略。