Nimodipine prevents the development of spasticity after spinal cord injury

Spasticity, one of the most frequent comorbidities of spinal cord injury (SCI), disrupts motor recovery and quality of life. Despite major progress in neurorehabilitative and pharmacological approaches, no curative treatment for spasticity exists. Here, we show in a mouse model of chronic SCI that treatment with nimodipine, an FDA-approved L-type calcium channel blocker, starting in the acute phase of SCI completely prevents the development of spasticity measured as increased muscle tone and spontaneous spasms. The aberrant muscle activities are permanently blocked even after termination of the treatment. Constitutive and conditional silencing in neuronal subtypes of Cav 1.3 channels shows that preventive effect of nimodipine on spasticity after SCI is mediated by the neuronal Cav 1.3 channels. This study identifies a potentially curative treatment protocol with a specific target for the prevention of spasticity after SCI.