Palliative Strategies in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to muscle atrophy, hyperreflexia and spasticity, symptoms that decrease quality of life and prevent effective rehabilitation. Previous findings from our labs found that a passive cycling exercise program, motorized bicycle exercise training (MBET), in adult spinally transected animals reduced muscle atrophy and normalized hyperreflexia. We found that MBET could prevent the onset of hyperreflexia after spinal transaction, that MBET could also be used to rescue from hyperreflexia once it had set in, and that MBET could induce savings in normalization of reflexes after MBET ceased. We also demonstrated that MBET was effective in rescuing from hyperreflexia in a chronic ASIA B SCI patient, and that short-term MBET could lead to brief savings in normalization of reflexes once MBET ceased. The proposed studies will test the ability to MBET to prevent the onset of hyperreflexia in a group of acute SCI patients trained before hyperreflexia has had a chance to set in. In addition, the proposed research will attempt to confirm the possibility that long-term MBET in chronic SCI patients will rescue from hyperreflexia once it has set in, and also produce significant savings in normalization of reflexes if carried out for long periods of time. We will also test the possibility that MBET in acute and/or chronic SCI patients could reduce or prevent muscle atrophy. The experimental design calls for assessing muscle mass using MRI scans, bone density using Dual-Energy X-ray Absortiometry (DEXA) scans, spasticity measures and electrophysiological measurements to determine low frequency habituation of the H-reflex. Assessments will be carried out before MBET, during a 25 week MBET block of time, and during a 12 week post MBET monitoring period. Changes in muscle mass, bone density, spasticity scales and H-reflex habituation will be compared across these interventions and between treated SCI victims and a group of control acute and chronic SCI victims undergoing standard of care during the same period.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Spinal Cord Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Motorized bicycle exercise training

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 17
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arkansas
    • Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 72205
      • Center for Translational Neuroscience #847

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1. An incomplete spinal cord injury at a level of C4 to T12.
• 2. 18 to 70 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria:

• 1. Joint contractures and/or spasticity that would hamper upright posture or use of MBET
• 2. A documented blood clot in the lower extremities
• 3. A history of lower extremity fractures (excludes randomization to the PWBT).
• 4. Pregnant women

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: A; Exercise group	Device: Motorized bicycle exercise training; Passive exercise with a bicycle to bilateral legs. 5 days per week for 3 months

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Muscle Mass Via Dual-Energy X-ray Absortiometry (DEXA)Scan Data	Lean muscle mass was measured with Dual-Energy X-ray Absortiometry (DEXA) scan, which uses low dose radiation to assess bone density and soft tissue density. pre and post, three month exercise protocol on a passivie motorized exercise bicycle.	baseline and 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Bone Density Via Dual-Energy X-ray Absortiometry (DEXA) Scan	Bone mineral density was measured with Dual-Energy X-ray Absortiometry (DEXA) scan pre and post, three month exercise protocol on a passive motorized exercise bicycle.	baseline and 3 months Post-exercise

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Arkansas
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Thomas S. Kiser, MD, Center for Translational Neuroscience, UAMS; Study Director: Edgar Garcia-Rill, PhD, Center for Translational Neuroscience, UAMS

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2003
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2008
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 3, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 3, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): January 15, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 13, 2011
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 13, 2010
• Last Verified: December 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: spinal cord injury
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Trauma, Nervous System; Spinal Cord Diseases; Wounds and Injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries
• Other Study ID Numbers: 24179; PRN # 12903 NIH