title: Effect of methylprednisolone on motor function and spinal cord blood flow after spinal cord compression in rats.
abstract: The effect of methylprednisolone (MP) on neurologic recovery and spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) was investigated up to 4 days after a spinal cord compression injury in rats. The injury was produced at midthoracic level by applying a load of 35 g on a 2.2 x 5.0 mm compression plate for 5 min, which resulted in transient paraparesis. MP was given as a bolus dose of 30 mg/kg i.v. 60 min after injury (n = 20) and controls were given saline (n = 10). The motor performance was assessed daily as the capacity angle on the inclined plane and SCBF was measured by 14C-iodoantipyrine autoradiography on Days 1 or 4. On Day 1 the capacity angle was reduced from about 63 degrees preoperatively to 33 +/- 2 degrees (mean +/- SEM) in the control group and to 50 +/- 1 degrees in the group treated with MP (p less than 0.05). Thereafter there was a slight improvement in both groups, but the difference persisted throughout the observation period. On Day 4 both gray and white matter SCBF was better preserved in MP-treated animals than in the control group (59 +/- 4 versus 49 +/- 3 ml/min/100 g tissue for gray matter and 13.6 +/- 0.6 versus 10.7 +/- 0.8 ml/min/100 g tissue for white matter). Posttraumatic treatment with MP, thus, improved both the neurologic recovery during the first 4 days and SCBF as measured on Day 4. It is speculated that the effect of MP is at least partly exerted on the vascular bed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holtz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nyström
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gerdin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009068:Movement; D009420:Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D008775:Methylprednisolone