The main signaling pathways determining the microglia responses in spinal cord injury: Potential effectors among known pharmaceuticals.

It is known that the processes occurring during spinal cord injury are multicomponent, as posttraumatic reactions affect all types of cells in the central nervous system. It is an established fact that microglia are among the first to react to nervous tissue damage; they become activated and, depending on the activation status, are able to cause either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory reactions. Despite significant efforts by scientists to find an effective therapeutic strategy for treating patients with spinal cord injuries, no approach has yet been developed that can prevent disability. Existing knowledge about cell activation signaling pathways and the large number of developed drugs open up broad prospects for predicting and alternatively using existing drugs against other diseases. In view of the above, our review aims to identify potential effectors of the main signaling pathways in microglial cells that determine their behavior during spinal cord injury, which seems particularly promising for future clinical applications.