Systemic Administration of Rolipram Increases Medullary and Spinal cAMP and Activates a Latent Respiratory Motor Pathway After High Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

摘要

Background/Objective:High cervical spinal cord hemisection interrupts descending respiratory drive from the rostral ventral respiratory group in the medulla to the ipsilateral phrenic motoneurons. Hemisection results in the paralysis of the ipsilateral hemidiaphragm. Chronic administration of rolipram, a specific phosphodiesterase-IV inhibitor, promotes synaptic plasticity and restores phrenic nerve function after a high cervical spinal cord lesion. Here, we test the hypothesis that an acute administration of rolipram will increase spinal and medullary levels of 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and induce phrenic nerve recovery after cervical (C2) spinal cord hemisection.