Remote conditioning as protective strategy influencing ubiquitin-mediated stress response in the rabbit spinal cord after ischemia/reperfusion.

The aim of presented study was to investigate the model of non-invasive method of remote conditioning induced by compression of left forelimb with a tourniquet in three cycles of 2 min of ischemia each followed by 2 min of reperfusion and its influence on the rabbit spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury via ubiquitin-mediated stress response. Ubiquitin immunoreaction in spinal cord motor neurons as well as detection of neuronal survival in ventral horns of spinal cord were evaluated. Significantly increased (p < 0.001) number of ubiquitin positive neurons was registered in all remote conditioned groups versus both spinal cord ischemia (SC-ischemia) groups. Our results indicate that remote conditioning significantly attenuated degeneration of motor neurons in all conditioned groups versus SC-ischemia groups in each time point. According to our results, we concluded that the remote conditioning induced by transient limb ischemia is relevant stimulus that provides potent neuroprotection in a model of spinal cord ischemia/ reperfusion injury.