Romero-Ortega, Mario
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10735.1/4964
Dr. Mario Romero-Ortega is an Associate Professor in the Bioengineering department. He is also an adjuncy faculty member of the Surgery department at UT Southwestern Medical Center, a member of the UT Arlington Research Institute, and a Partner Researcher at the University of Wollongon, Australia. His research areas of interest are:
- Spinal cord injury
- Peripheral nerve gap repair
- Regenerative peripheral neurointerfaces
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Item Enhancing Plasticity in Central Networks Improves Motor and Sensory Recovery after Nerve Damage(Springer Nature, 2019-12-19) Meyers, Eric C.; Kasliwal, Nimit; Solorzano, Bleyda R.; Lai, Elaine; Bendale, Geetanjali; Berry, Abigail; Ganzer, Patrick D.; Romero-Ortega, Mario; Rennaker, Robert L.; Kilgard, Michael P.; Hays, Seth A.; 0000-0002-2013-5450 (Meyers, EC); 0000-0001-6314-9062 (Kasliwal, N); 0000-0003-2576-2629 (Romero-Ortega, M); 0000-0003-4225-241X (Hays, SA); Meyers, Eric C.; Kasliwal, Nimit; Solorzano, Bleyda R.; Lai, Elaine; Bendale, Geetanjali; Berry, Abigail; Ganzer, Patrick D.; Romero-Ortega, Mario; Rennaker, Robert L.; Kilgard, Michael P.; Hays, Seth A.Nerve damage can cause chronic, debilitating problems including loss of motor control and paresthesia, and generates maladaptive neuroplasticity as central networks attempt to compensate for the loss of peripheral connectivity. However, it remains unclear if this is a critical feature responsible for the expression of symptoms. Here, we use brief bursts of closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation (CL-VNS) delivered during rehabilitation to reverse the aberrant central plasticity resulting from forelimb nerve transection. CL-VNS therapy drives extensive synaptic reorganization in central networks paralleled by improved sensorimotor recovery without any observable changes in the nerve or muscle. Depleting cortical acetylcholine blocks the plasticity-enhancing effects of CL-VNS and consequently eliminates recovery, indicating a critical role for brain circuits in recovery. These findings demonstrate that manipulations to enhance central plasticity can improve sensorimotor recovery and define CL-VNS as a readily translatable therapy to restore function after nerve damage.Item Multiparity Affects Conduction Properties of Pelvic Floor Nerves in Rabbits(John Wiley and Sons Ltd) Castelán, F.; López-García, K.; Moreno-Pérez, S.; Zempoalteca, R.; Corona-Quintanilla, D. L.; Romero-Ortega, Mario; Jiménez-Estrada, I.; Martínez-Gómez, M.; 0000-0003-2576-2629 (Romero-Ortega, M); Romero-Ortega, Mario I.Introduction: Women often develop pelvic floor dysfunction due to damage to the pelvic musculature during childbirth; however, the effect on pelvic floor nerves function is less understood. This study used adult rabbits to evaluate the electrophysiological and histological characteristics of the bulbospongiosus (Bsn) and pubococcygeus nerves (Pcn) in multiparity. Methods: Compound nerve action potentials (CNAP) were compared between age-matched nulliparous and multiparous animals and associated to the histological characteristics of myelinated axons from the Bsn and Pcn nerves. The extensor digitorum longus nerve (EDLn) was used as negative control. Data were analyzed with unpaired two-tailed Student's t test or Mann–Whitney U test to determine significant differences between groups. Results: The onset and peak latencies, duration, and conduction velocity of the motor fibers in these pelvic nerves were not significantly different between nulliparous and multiparous animals. However, the peak-to-peak amplitude and area of the CNAP in both Bsn and Pcn were reduced in multiparous rabbits. Histology showed a higher percentage of axons with myelin disorganization caused by multiparity in these pelvic nerves. Together, the data indicate a reduction in the number of functional pelvic axons due to multiparity. As expected, no effect of parity was observed in the EDLn controls. Conclusions: Present findings demonstrated that multiparity affects myelination and consequently conduction properties in the small pelvic floor nerves. ©2018 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Item Brain on a Bench Top(Elsevier) Lozano, R.; Stevens, L.; Thompson, B. C.; Gilmore, K. J.; Gorkin, R.; Stewart, E. M.; Panhuis, M. I. H.; Romero-Ortega, Mario; Wallace, G. G.; 0000-0003-2576-2629 (Romero-Ortega, M)