ArticleFrontiers in neurology
P2X7 receptor antagonism with Brilliant Blue G promotes functional recovery in spontaneous canine spinal cord injury: a preliminary study in a large animal model.
Article in Frontiers in neurology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Secondary injury cascades critically influence neurological outcomes after severe spinal cord injury (SCI), yet effective disease-modifying pharmacological interventions remain lacking. Extracellular ATP-mediated activation of the P2X7 receptor is a key driver of post-traumatic neuroinflammation, glial activation, and progressive tissue loss. While P2X7 receptor antagonism improves functional recovery in experimental rodent models of SCI, its translational relevance in naturally occurring large-animal injury has not been established. Methods: We conducted a prospective, uncontrolled, exploratory observational study in client-owned dogs serving as a naturally occurring large-animal model of severe SCI. Twenty non-ambulatory dogs with cervical or thoracolumbar SCI whose owners declined surgical decompression received intravenous Brilliant Blue G (BBG), a selective P2X7 receptor antagonist, at 10 mg/kg/day for seven consecutive days. Neurological function was assessed longitudinally using deep pain perception testing and the modified Frankel scale. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in a subset of cases. Results: Consistent neurological improvement temporally associated with BBG administration was observed across the cohort during follow-up. Eighteen dogs (90%) regained independent ambulation within 5 days to 15 months (median, 4 weeks). Among dogs presenting with complete injury equivalents (modified Frankel grade 5), 13 of 14 (92.9%; 95% CI, 66.1-99.8%) achieved independent ambulation. In cases with follow-up MRI, substantial functional recovery occurred despite persistent spinal cord compression. No adverse events attributable to BBG were observed. Conclusion: Systemic P2X7 receptor antagonism with BBG was feasible and well tolerated and was associated with substantial functional recovery in a naturally occurring large-animal model of severe SCI, even in the absence of surgical decompression. Although causality cannot be established in this uncontrolled study, the consistency of recovery patterns and the observation of improvement despite persistent mechanical compression support further investigation of P2X7 receptor inhibition as a disease-modifying therapeutic strategy for acute human SCI.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.