FIG. 5.

Shown are the results for the luciferase assay of spinal cord tissue taken from injured rats after 8 min of swimming at 3 or 14 days post-injury. Segments of spinal cord (4 mm long) taken from the cervical enlargement (1) were compared to segments taken from just rostral and caudal to the injury epicenter. (A) Segments 3 and 4 taken from the animal that swam for 8 min at 3 days post-injury had significantly higher levels of luciferase activity than similar segments taken from cage-rested controls (mean ± SD, p < 0.05). (B) By 14 days post-injury, the levels of luciferase activity were significantly lower and were similar in cage-rested and animals exposed to 8 min of swimming (note scale differences of the y-axis in B; mean ± SD, p < 0.05). Luciferase activity was below detectable limits in uninjured control animals whether or not they were exposed to 8 min of swimming.