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Injecting fibronectin protein after spinal cord injury inhibits mechanical allodynia

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One injection into the spinal dorsal column immediately after spinal cord injury could provide sustained pain relief to patients, according to a study led by a researcher at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

In an animal study, “We have demonstrated that a one-time injection of fibronectin (50 µg/mL) into [the] spinal dorsal column (1 µL/min each injection for [a] total 5 µL) immediately after spinal cord injury inhibits the development of mechanical allodynia (but not thermal hyperalgesia) over an eight-month observation period following spinal cord dorsal column crush,” the researchers wrote in the study abstract.

The team injected animals with the fibronectin protein, which “supports the survival, growth and communication of neurons in the brain and spinal cord,” according to a Cleveland Clinic press release.

In their study abstract, Ching-Yi Lin, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Neurosciences at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, and colleagues, wrote that fibronectin decreased inflammation and allowed more blood-spinal cord permeability, which “leads to enhanced fiber sparing and sprouting.”

They also reported finding that fibronectin blocked decreases in the serotonin receptor, 5-HT, in the superficial dorsal horn.

“We are very pleased with the results from the fibronectin injection,” Lin stated in the release. “Perhaps this will signal a change in pain management after spinal cord injury.”

The next step in this line of research, according to the press release, is to test the delayed fibronectin treatment on the inhibition of chronic pain after spinal cord injury, a more clinically relevant investigation.

“We conclude that treatment of spinal cord injury with fibronectin preserves sensory regulation and prevents the development of chronic allodynia, providing a potential therapeutic intervention to treat chronic pain following spinal cord injury,” Lin and colleagues wrote in the abstract.

Reference:

• Lin CY, Lee YS, Lin VW, Silver J. Fibronectin inhibits chronic pain development after spinal cord injury. J Neurotrauma. 2011. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1089/neu.2011.2059.

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