FIG. 1.

Effects of cortical dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP; 50 mM) application in spinal cord injured rats. One week following a thoracic over-hemisection spinal cord injury (SCI), the treated and the control groups exhibited comparative locomotor performance in the open field (as measured using the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan [BBB] score). At 3 and 4 weeks, however, the control animals (diamond, filled) showed a progressive improvement in BBB scores, while the db-cAMP-treated animals (diamond, open) did not (A). Examination of the lesion size produced by the brain infusion catheter revealed that the extent of the lesion in db-cAMP infused rats was significantly increased (B). Data is expressed as the mean ± SEM; asterisks indicate p < 0.05. Furthermore, micro-hemorrhages were observed for up to 2 mm away from the infusion site (C,D).