We published a new paper in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity!
“Aging and miR-155 in mice influence survival and neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury.”
The average age at spinal cord injury is increasing, and people are living longer with improved treatment after spinal cord injury - yet there remain important questions about how spinal cord injury affects the geriatric population. How does age at SCI affect pain symptoms? Can pain symptoms after SCI be quenched using strategies that reduce inflammation?
In this paper, we assessed spontaneous pain symptoms and evoked pain in adult and aged mice. We also sought to reduce pain symptoms by using mice lacking a key pro-inflammatory microRNA, miR-155. Aged mice showed increased spontaneous pain symptoms and death after injury, which were dampened in mice lacking miR-155.
At baseline, aged mice had increased heat hypersensitivity. After SCI, both adult and aged mice displayed pain symptoms, which were partially alleviated by miR-155 deletion.
These results highlight the importance of studying SCI and neurologic disorders across the lifespan. Identifying age-related deficits and immunomodulatory treatments after SCI could help improve clinical approaches for pain management.
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