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Study design:An in vivo study in a rat model of acute spinal cord contusion.Objectives:To assess the efficacy of novel therapies for acute spinal cord injury (SCI), methods to evaluate accurately the effects of these therapies should be developed. Although neurological examination is commonly used for this purpose, unstable clinical conditions and the spontaneous recovery of neurological function in the acute and subacute phases after injury make this measurement unreliable. Recent studies have reported that the phosphorylated form of the high-molecular-weight neurofilament subunit NF-H (pNF-H), a new biomarker for axonal degeneration, can be measured in serum samples in experimental SCI animals. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the use of plasma pNF-H as an indicator of the efficacy of minocycline, a neuroprotective drug, for treating SCI.Setting:This study was carried out at Saitama, Japan.Methods:Spinal cord injured rats received either minocycline or saline intraperitoneally. The plasma pNF-H levels and functional hind limb score were determined after the injury.Results:Minocycline treatment reduced plasma pNF-H levels at 3 and 4 days post-injury (dpi). Rats with lower plasma pNF-H levels at 3 dpi had higher hind limb motor score at 28 dpi.Conclusions:pNF-H levels may serve as a biomarker for evaluating the efficacy of therapies for SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study design:An in vivo study using a spinal cord compression model in rats.Objectives:To evaluate the effect of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) on the change in thoracic spinal cord blood flow and on hind-limb motor function.Background:Until now, effect of PGE1 on spinal cord blood flow at the point of compression has not been tested.Methods:Our newly developed blood flow measurement system was a combination of a noncontact-type Laser Doppler system and a spinal cord compression device. The rat thoracic spinal cord was exposed and spinal cord blood flow at the point of compression was measured before, during and after compression. The functioning of the animals' hind-limbs was evaluated by the BBB Scale and by measuring the frequency of voluntary standing.Results:During the compression period, spinal cord blood flow was significantly higher in the PGE1-treated rats than in the control rats, which did not receive PGE1. After decompression, the spinal cord blood flow rapidly recovered to about 60% of the precompression level in the control rats. When the animals were treated with PGE1, blood flow after decompression reached about 90% of the precompression level.Twenty-gram compression for 40 mins induced motor deficiencies in the rat hind-limbs. The application of PGE1 significantly improved motor function of the rat hind-limbs after spinal cord injury.Conclusions:The application of PGE1 increased spinal cord blood flow during and after spinal cord compression, and improved motor function after the spinal cord injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]