Species Differences in Blood Lymphocyte Responses After Spinal Cord Injury.

People with spinal cord injury (SCI) get recurrent infections, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) and pneumonias, that cause mortality and worsen neurological recovery. Over the past decades, researchers have proposed that post-SCI lymphopenia and decreased lymphocyte function increase susceptibility to infections and worsen neurological outcome in humans, leading to a condition called SCI-induced immune depression syndrome (SCI-IDS). In this review, we explore how SCI affects blood lymphocyte homeostasis and function in humans and rodents.