<title>Abstract</title> Background: Secondary damage after spinal cord injury (SCI) is characterized by a cascade of events including hemorrhage, apoptosis, oxidative stress and inflammation which increase the lesion size which can influence the functional impairment. Thus, identifying specific mechanisms attributed to secondary injury is critical in minimizing tissue damage and improving neurological outcome. In this work, we are investigating the role of CCL3 (Macrophage inflammatory protein 1- α, MIP-1α), a che…