RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Early Targeting of L-Selectin on Leukocytes Promotes Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury, Implicating Novel Mechanisms of Pathogenesis JF eneuro JO eNeuro FD Society for Neuroscience SP ENEURO.0101-18.2018 DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0101-18.2018 VO 5 IS 4 A1 D. A. McCreedy A1 S. Lee A1 C. J. Sontag A1 P. Weinstein A1 A. D. Olivas A1 A. F. Martinez A1 T. M. Fandel A1 A. Trivedi A1 C. A. Lowell A1 S. D. Rosen A1 L. J. Noble-Haeusslein YR 2018 UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/5/4/ENEURO.0101-18.2018.abstract AB L-selectin, a lectin-like receptor on all leukocyte classes, functions in adhesive and signaling roles in the recruitment of myeloid cells from the blood to sites of inflammation. Here, we consider L-selectin as a determinant of neurological recovery in a murine model of spinal cord injury (SCI). Spinal cord-injured, L-selectin knock-out (KO) mice (male) showed improved long-term recovery with greater white matter sparing relative to wild-type (WT) mice and reduced oxidative stress in the injured cord at 72 h post-SCI. There was a partial and transient reduction in accumulation of neutrophils in the injured spinal cords of KOs at 24 h post-injury. To complement these findings with KO mice, we sought a pharmacologic means for lowering L-selectin levels. We found that diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), induced the shedding of L-selectin from the cell surface of myeloid subsets, specifically neutrophils and non-classical monocytes, in the blood and the injured spinal cord. Diclofenac administration to injured WT mice enhanced neurological recovery to a level comparable to that of KOs but did not improve recovery in KOs. While diclofenac treatment had no effect on myeloid cell accumulation, there was a reduction in oxidative stress at 72 h post-SCI. These findings implicate L-selectin in secondary pathogenesis beyond a role in leukocyte recruitment and raise the possibility of repurposing diclofenac for the treatment of SCI.