Juan
Jose Herrera1, Ponnada A. Narayana1
1Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging,
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United
States
A
consequence of spinal cord injury is the disruption of spinal vasculature,
and it is this disruption that contributes to the initiation of cascade of
biochemical events leading to secondary damage from the ischemic and
inflammatory responses Using adeno-associated viral vectors engineered to
express Ang-1 and or VEGF may stimulate angiogenesis and vessel maturation
after spinal injury. Our study indicates that the syngeristic effect of both
agents reduces spinal vascular permeability and lesion volume determined by
MRI leading to functional recovery.