Buspirone Dose-Response on Facilitating Forelimb Functional Recovery in Cervical Spinal Cord Injured Rats

Abstract

Buspirone, widely used as a neuropsychiatric drug, has also shown potentials for motor function recovery of injured spinal cord. However, the optimum dosages of such treatment remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the dose-response of Buspirone treatment on reaching and grasping function in cervical cord injured rats. Seventeen adult Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to reach and grasp sugar pellets before a C4 bilateral dorsal column crush injury. After 1 week post-injury, the rats were divided into 3 groups to receive 1 of 3 different dosages of Buspirone (i.p., 1 dose/day: 1.5, n = 5; 2.5, n = 6 and 3.5 mg/kg b.w., n = 6). Forelimb reaching and grip strength test were recorded once per week, within 1 hour of Buspirone administration for 11 weeks post-injury. Different dose groups began to exhibit differences in reaching scores from 4 weeks post-injury. From 4-11 weeks post-injury, the reaching scores were highest in the lowest-dose group rats compared to the other 2 dose groups rats. Average grip strength was also found higher in the lowest-dose rats. Our results demonstrate a significant dose-dependence of Buspirone on the recovery of forelimb motor functions after cervical cord injury with the best performance occurring at the lowest dose tested.

A novel therapeutic approach of ultrasound stimulation to restore forelimb functions following cervical cord injury in rats

“…In combination group the success rate increased in a continuous manner until 8 weeks. The possible mechanism of last 4 weeks of recovery may be mainly coming from the effect of Buspirone [23].…”

“…The rats were tested and acclimatized with a custom-made grip strength meter as described before [23]. A metal grid was connected to a force sensor and the values were recorded on a computer.…”

“…The rats were tested and acclimatized with a custom-made grip strength meter as described before [23].…”

“…The force values for each week were averaged and the maximum strength from pre-injury to week-6 was calculated. The values of each week were normalized from each rat as described before [23] [30].…”

“…To determine the combined effect of LIPUS and drugs, in a separate study four rats were administered (i/p) a dose of 1.5 mg/kg b.w. of Buspirone (Tocris®, UK) [23] daily for 6 weeks. Forelimb reaching and grasping success rates and grip strength were recorded during and post-LIPUS stimulation after 30 minutes of Buspirone administration.…”