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[QUOTE="pj, post: 3275618, member: 2524"]
Hi Shine, the paper is fairly on point. The basic process it describes is that after spinal cord injury, it's common to get muscle degeneration and atrophy. Muscle is a significant contributor to metabolic regulation, because it is an important sink for excess calories. After a meal, for example, skeletal muscle takes up a lot of calories from blood, then releases calories back when you fast. If you lose muscle, you lose that metabolic regulation. Without adequate muscle, the surge in calories in the bloodstream after meals may be hard for the body to dispose of. When other cell types are exposed to an excess of macronutrients, they generate excessive oxidative stress, which can lead to mitochondrial and DNA damage, and ultimately to diabetes.

But ATP levels are not affected -- in fact it is an excess of ATP in the cells that drives the damage. I think the confusion is the idea that spinal cord injury directly impacts ATP or mitochondria. No, it's an indirect effect through the degeneration of muscle and other tissue.
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