FIG. 5.

Relationship between the expression of NKCC1, KCC2, and BDNF in the lumbar spinal cord. (A) A linear regression analysis showed that there is a significant positive relationship between BDNF and KCC2 expression level in the lumbar spinal cord (p < 0.001, R² = 0.480). SCI and SCI+Ex+TrkB-IgG groups are clustered in the lower-left quadrant with low expression levels of BDNF and KCC2, whereas intact and SCI+Ex are grouped in the top-right quadrant displaying higher levels of both proteins. (B) A linear regression analysis illustrates a significant negative relationship between NKCC1 and KCC2 expression level in the lumbar spinal cord (p = 0.006, R² = 0.188) with low levels of KCC2 expression associated with higher levels of NKCC1. BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; SCI, spinal cord injury.