Nitric oxide: a possible etiologic factor in spinal cord cavitation.
To determine whether nitric oxide (NO) is related to spinal cord cavitation, we treated mice that underwent spinal cord injury with NG-mono-methyl-L-arginine (N-MMA). Spinal cord specimens were subjected to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunostaining, which is selective for astrocytes. Spinal cord cavities and GFAP-positive glial cells appeared simultaneously at 3 days after spinal cord injury, and the cavities enlarged at 7 days. In mice receiving N-MMA, the cavities were significantly smaller than those in the mice that underwent spinal cord injury only. However, the numbers of GFAP-positive cells showed no difference between these two groups. These experimental findings suggest that cavitation of the spinal cord is caused mainly by NO released from activated glial cells.
Matsuyama
Y
Y
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
Sato
K
K
Kamiya
M
M
Yano
J
J
Iwata
H
H
Isobe
K
K
D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D003560:Cysts / Q000378:metabolism*; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000032:analysis; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009336:Necrosis; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D009569:Nitric Oxide