title: Severity-dependent expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in traumatic spinal cord injury in the rat.
abstract: The post-traumatic inflammatory response in acute spinal cord contusion injury was studied in the rat. Mild and severe spinal cord injury (SCI) was produced by dropping a 10 g weight from 3 and 12 cm at the T12 vertebral level. Increased immunoreactivity of TNF-alpha in mild and severe SCI was detected in neurons at 1 h post-injury, and in neurons and microglia at 6 h post-injury, with a less significant increase in mild SCI. Expression was short-lived and declined sharply by 1 d post-injury. RT-PCR showed an early significant up-regulation of IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha mRNAs, maximal at 6 h post-injury with return to control levels by 24 h post-injury, the changes being less statistically significantly in mild SCI. Western blot showed early transient increases of IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha proteins in severe SCI but not mild SCI. Immunocytochemical, western blotting and RT-PCR analyses suggest that endogenous cells (neurons and microglia) in the spinal cord, not blood-borne leucocytes, contribute to IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha production in the post-traumatic inflammatory response and that their up-regulation is greater in severe than mild SCI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery (Neurosurgery), Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Yangliqun98@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Liqun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Nigel R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Blumbergs
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Den Heuvel
authors.forename: Emma J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manavis
authors.forename: Ghafar T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Sarvestani
authors.forename: Mounir N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ghabriel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007375:Interleukin-1; D015850:Interleukin-6; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha