Poster K4 - Cardiovascular Dysfunction Induced via Spinal Cord Damage

Thursday, October 24, 2024

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST

Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Presenting Author(s)

Grace Boulos (she/her/hers)

Undergraduate researcher
California State University, Long Beach
Long Beach, California, United States

Co-Author(s)

Zihan Yan, MS (he/him/his)

PhD Candidate
University of Miami Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Miami, Florida, United States
MO

Mynor Orellana

Undergraduate student researcher
University of Miami Department of Biomedical Engineering, United States
DA

Daniel Alarcon

Undergraduate student researcher
University of Miami Department of Biomedical Engineering, United States
YF

Yun Fang

Research associate
Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, United States
AM

Armando J. Mendez, PhD (he/him/his)

Assoc Professor
University of Miami
Miami , Florida, United States
AS

Angela Szeto, PhD

Research asst. professor
Diabetes Research Institute, The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, United States
PT

Pantelis Tsoulfas

Associate professor
Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, United States

Primary Investigator(s)

Patrick Ganzer, PhD

Principal investigator
University of Miami Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Florida, United States

Introduction: A spinal cord injury (SCI) can result in serious physiological dysfunction throughout the body. Its effect on cardiovascular function, however, is not as well understood pre-clinically. In this study, we assessed the hypothesis that a SCI at spinal level C8 would result in both chronic physiological and histological cardiovascular deficits.

Materials and

Methods: To investigate this, a midline contusion was performed at spinal level C8 in rats. We primarily investigated C8 SCI severity, cardiovascular dysfunction, and pathophysiological consequences on the heart tissue. At the end of the study, the spinal cord and heart were harvested following transcardial perfusion. The spinal cord tissue was stained with anti-myelin, and the heart was stained with anti-tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) antibodies, in addition to other markers of fibrosis, structure, and inflammation. A subset of the tissues were cleared, allowing for them to be imaged with 3D confocal microscopy. Once these images were captured, they were exported to a customized MATLAB app which allowed for the analysis of multiple factors, including spinal cord lesion extent (via labeling of white and grey matter within the left and right hemicords), as well as myocardial histopathology.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Our results demonstrate that C8 SCI results in cardiovascular dysfunction and specifically orthostatic hypotension. The C8 SCI extended multiple spinal segments above and below the lesion, quantified in MATLAB as percentages of tissue matter salvaged from the spinal cord. We will also present an analysis of the density of TH fibers in the heart using 3D imaging, addressing how sympathetic innervation may change post-SCI. Finally, we will also present data on myocardial immunohistochemical outcomes following trichrome, H&E, and staining of inflammatory markers in the heart.

Acknowledgements (Optional):