Good and Bad Macrophage Responses to Spinal Cord Injury Identified

Macrophages, a type of cellular “sentinel” in the body that identify attacks from viruses, bacteria or fungi, are a double-edged sword in spinal cord injury, providing both neural repair-promoting properties and pathological functions that destroy neuronal tissue. Researchers from The Ohio State University and the University of Kentucky teamed up to find out why these signals stimulate the good and/or bad functions in macrophages. The research team, analyzed more than 50 animals with spinal cord injuries to try and identify which macrophage receptors promoted neuronal repair, and which directed the destructive process. “We found that activating bacterial receptors boosted the macrophage response and limited damage to the spinal cord following injury, while activating fungal receptors actually contributed to pathology,” said an assistant professor of physiology at the University of Kentucky. “The implications are exciting: we now can look for treatments targeted to the receptors that jump-start the macrophage’s restorative effects without activating the receptors that modulate the destructive processes in that same cell.” Although the study oversimplifies the complex process by which macrophages promote repair and destruction of neuronal tissues, it sheds light on opportunities to modulate macrophage responses after spinal cord injury, potentially reducing — or even reversing — damage and the resulting side-effects. To read more about this study, click here.