title: Effects of citicoline on experimental spinal cord injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of citicoline on experimental spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Citicoline has been successfully used in clinical studies of head injury and cerebral infarction, but there is limited literature regarding its use in experimental SCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty adult Wistar rats were divided into four groups: sham, trauma, vehicle, and citicoline-treated. SCI was produced using a weight drop technique. Citicoline 300 mg/kg was given intraperitoneally, 5 minutes after the induction of trauma. The animals were sacrificed and 1 cm long samples of injured spinal cord were obtained at 48 hours post-SCI. Lipid peroxidation was estimated by the thiobarbituric acid test. Neurological examinations were performed using a previously described grading scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Measures of lipid peroxidation and motor scores of the citicoline-treated group were significantly lower than those in the other injury groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Citicoline attenuated lipid peroxidation after SCI and improved the motor scores. Further investigations will be required to determine the long-term effects of this drug on spinal cord injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey. ecakir@meds.ktu.edu.tr
authors.forename: Ertugrul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cakir
authors.forename: Haydar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Usul
authors.forename: Bekircan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peksoylu
authors.forename: Ozgur C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Sayin
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alver
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Topbas
authors.forename: Suleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baykal
authors.forename: Kayhan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuzeyli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline