TY - JOUR
T1 - Riluzole and methylprednisolone combined treatment improves functional recovery in traumatic spinal cord injury
AU - Mu, X.
AU - Azbill, R. D.
AU - Springer, J. E.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - The potential use of riluzole (a glutamate release inhibitor) alone or in combination with methyl-prednisolone (MP) in treating acute spinal cored injury (SCI) was examined. Rats received a contusion injury to the spinal cord using the NYU impactor and were treated with vehicle, riluzole (8 mg/kg), MP(30 mg/kg), or riluzole + MP at 2 and 4 h following injury. Animals continued to receive riluzole treatment (8 mg/kg) for a period of 1 week. The animals were then tested weekly for functional recovery using the BBB open field locomotor score. At the end of testing (6 weeks after injury), each spinal cord was examined for the amount of remaining tissue at the injury site and a myelination index was used to quantify remaining axons in the ventromedial white matter. In this study, only the combination treatment was found to significantly improve behavioral recovery as assessed using the BBB open field locomotor scale. In addition, the combination treatment promoted tissue sparing at the lesion epicenter, but had no clear effect on the index of myelination. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the potential beneficial effects of a combination approach in the treatment of traumatic SCI.
AB - The potential use of riluzole (a glutamate release inhibitor) alone or in combination with methyl-prednisolone (MP) in treating acute spinal cored injury (SCI) was examined. Rats received a contusion injury to the spinal cord using the NYU impactor and were treated with vehicle, riluzole (8 mg/kg), MP(30 mg/kg), or riluzole + MP at 2 and 4 h following injury. Animals continued to receive riluzole treatment (8 mg/kg) for a period of 1 week. The animals were then tested weekly for functional recovery using the BBB open field locomotor score. At the end of testing (6 weeks after injury), each spinal cord was examined for the amount of remaining tissue at the injury site and a myelination index was used to quantify remaining axons in the ventromedial white matter. In this study, only the combination treatment was found to significantly improve behavioral recovery as assessed using the BBB open field locomotor scale. In addition, the combination treatment promoted tissue sparing at the lesion epicenter, but had no clear effect on the index of myelination. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the potential beneficial effects of a combination approach in the treatment of traumatic SCI.
KW - Excitotoxicity
KW - Glucocorticoids
KW - Glutamate release
KW - Myelin
KW - Spinal cord trauma
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U2 - 10.1089/neu.2000.17.773
DO - 10.1089/neu.2000.17.773
M3 - Article
C2 - 11011817
AN - SCOPUS:0033802214
SN - 0897-7151
VL - 17
SP - 773
EP - 780
JO - Journal of Neurotrauma
JF - Journal of Neurotrauma
IS - 9
ER -