Impact of Persistent Conductances on Motor Unit Firing in SCI

• Status: Unknown status
• Trial end date: 1969-12-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

This study is being done to measure the differences between the electrical activity of muscles and /single muscle fibers in individuals with long-term spinal cord injury and neurologically intact individuals without spinal cord injury. This study is also being done to find out if muscle and /single muscle fiber electrical activity, voluntary strength, reflex measurements, and/or spasms are changed after a single, oral dose of three commonly prescribed drugs, Rilutek®, isradipine, and Namenda®. These medications are approved by the FDA for treatment of disorders other than the control of spasms and strength. In this study, they are being used in an experimental manner. Finally, this study is also being done to find out whether or not a brief stretching exercise influences reflex measurements.

The main hypothesis of this study is that aberrant current activity in spinal motoneurons contributes to spastic hyper-reflexia following chronic spinal cord injury.

• Phase: N/A
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago; Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
• Treatments: Isradipine; Memantine; Riluzole

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Subjects with Spinal Cord Injury:

• Clinical diagnosis of motor-incomplete chronic (>1yr) SCI between 18-65 yrs old

• non-progressive lesion between C5-T1

• movement impairment (including reduced volitional elbow flexion against gravity)

• reduced active range of motion

• medically stable

• have medical clearance from their primary internists or physiatrists to participate in experiments involving drug administration.

2. Control Subjects: healthy with no history of neurological injury or disease.

• have medical clearance from their primary internists or physiatrists to participate in experiments involving drug administration.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Under age 18yrs (children)

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding (women who are pregnant or nursing will be excluded)

• Spinal cord injury below T10 due to potential peripheral nerve damage/cauda equina injury

• concurrent medical illnesses, infections, upper extremity pain, inflammation or recent injury

• significant cardiovascular disease (including arrhythmias that require pacemakers, hypertension or hypotension)

• history of cardiovascular or pulmonary complications (including significant obstruction and/or restrictive lung diseases)

• metabolic (endocrine, hepatic) or renal dysfuction

• traumatic head injury

• orthopedic disease or injury

• diagnosis of other neurological disease

• Concurrent use of antispasticity medications

• concurrent use of medications that may interact with the test agents

• previous sensitivity to the test agents or their components