title: Acute effect of Ghrelin on ischemia/reperfusion injury in the rat spinal cord.
abstract: Ghrelin, a 28-amino acid peptide, is mainly secreted by the stomach. Ghrelin has been shown to have neuroprotective effects. However, whether ghrelin protects the spinal cord from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is unknown. To investigate this, 60 rats were randomly divided into three different groups: the sham group (n = 20), the vehicle group (n = 20), and the Ghrelin group (100 μg/kg, n = 20). Rats were sacrificed 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after ischemia. After the evaluation of neurologic function (48 h), the spinal cords were immediately removed for the determination of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity (12-72 h). Apoptosis was quantitatively measured using the terminal transferase UTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method (24 h). The expression of bax and bcl-2 were evaluated by Western blot analysis (1 h), and GHSR-1a mRNA expression was detected using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (24 h). The neurological motor function was evaluated by 'Tarlov's score'. The neurologic outcomes in the ghrelin-group were significantly better than those in the vehicle group (p < 0.05). Serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) levels were assessed in the peripheral venous blood. Ghrelin decreased the serum TNF-α levels and ameliorated the down regulation of spinal cord MPO activity. The expression of ghrelin receptors (GHSR-1a) in the rat spinal cord was decreased by I/R injury and increased by ghrelin. Ghrelin reduced the TUNEL-positive rate. Greater bcl-2, HSP27, HSP70, and attenuated bax expression were observed in the ghrelin-treated rats. Our results suggest that ghrelin administration may inhibit spinal I/R injury. Moreover, the improvement of neurologic function in rats was increased after the ghrelin treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Yuncheng Central Hospital, Yuncheng 044000, China.|Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow 215007, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow 215007, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow 215007, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow 215007, China.
authors.forename: Tiansi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow 215007, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Soochow 215007, China.
authors.forename: Huilin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009195:Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054440:Receptors, Ghrelin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; C571124:Ghsr1a protein, rat; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054440:Receptors, Ghrelin; D009195:Peroxidase