Effects of Methylprednisolone on the Expression and Activity of Calpain Following Ischemia-Reperfusion Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

• 作者: Jinquan Xu Tiesheng Hou Yushu Bai Zifeng Zhang
• 来源期刊: 神经系统科学与医药(英文)
• 学科: 医学
• 关键词: METHYLPREDNISOLONE Spinal CORD INJURY ISCHEMIA-REPERFUSION INJURY CALPAIN
• 年，卷（期）: 2014,（1）
• 页码范围: 23-31
• 页数: 9页
• 分类号: R5

摘要

The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of methylprednisolone on the expression and activity of calpain in spinal cord tissue following spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to sham operations, ischemia-reperfusion and vehicle treated, or ischemia-reperfusion with methylprednisolone administration after injury. The expression of calpain I in the injured segments of the spinal cord as well as the degradation of the 68 kD neurofilament protein (NFP), a calpain-specific substrate, was determined at 3 h, 24 h, 72 h and 7 days after reperfusion using immunohistochemical labeling and western blot analysis, respectively. Three hours after spinal cord reperfusion, calpain I-positive cells and NFP degradation products were evident. The number of positive cells and immunoreactivity increased with time and peaked at 72 h after reperfusion. In addition, the number of calpain I-positive cells and the abundance of NFP degradation products were significantly lower in the methylprednisolone group, compared with vehicle treated animals following ischemia-reperfusion injury. The results of this study suggest that methylprednisolone can inhibit the expression and degradation activity of calpain following ischemia-reperfusion injury, providing further insight into the therapeutic benefits of methylprednisolone treatment for spinal cord injury.