[Study of X-irradiation to enhance the functional and structural recovery of the injured spinal cord of rat].
OBJECTIVE
To explore whether X-irradiation can enhance the functional and structural recovery of the injured spinal cord of rats.


METHODS
Seventy Sprague-Dawley rats received spinal cord injury by clip compression at the T2 level were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group received X-irradiation at 14 days after injury, the control group did not receive X-irradiation. The functional tests were performed at day 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 after irradiation including open field movement, inclined plane and pain withdrawal test. All injured rats were sacrificed at 43 days after injury and the injured spinal cords were taken out for histological tests.


RESULTS
Sixty-two rats met the experimental requirements among 70 injured rats, 32 rats in experimental group and 30 rats in control group. Statistically significant difference was achieved between two groups in open field movement and inclined plane (P < 0.01), but not for the pain withdrawal test. The edema and necrosis area of injured spinal cords of experimental group were less than those in control group, and the number of axons of experimental group were more than those in control group.


CONCLUSIONS
X-irradiation can enhance the functional recovery by improving and restoring structural integrity of the injured spinal cord.
Li
Gang
G
Department of Neurosurgery, QiLu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
Wang
Jie-zhen
JZ
Li
Xin-gang
XG
Zhang
Qing-lin
QL
Jia
De-ze
DZ
Gong
Song-feng
SF
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*