title: Beneficial effects of quercetin on rat urinary bladder after spinal cord injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to an inflammatory response and generates oxidative stress, which has deleterious effects on the function of several organ systems, including the urinary bladder. The present study was designed to investigate the putative beneficial effect of quercetin against SCI-induced bladder damage.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to induce SCI, a standard weight-drop method that induced a moderately severe injury (100 g/cm force) at T10 was used. Injured animals were given either 20 mg/kg quercetin or vehicle 15 min post injury and repeated twice daily for 7 d. After decapitation, bladder strips were placed in organ bath and isometric contractions to carbachol (10(-8) to10(-4) M) were recorded. In order to examine oxidative tissue injury, luminol chemiluminescence, nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, and glutathione levels and superoxide dismutase, myeloperoxidase, and caspase 3 activities of bladder tissues were measured along with histologic evaluations. Proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 1β, and interleukin 6 were also assayed in blood samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the injured animals, the contractile responses of the bladder strips were lower than those of the control group and were reversed by treatment with quercetin. On the other hand, increase in nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, luminol chemiluminescence levels, and myeloperoxidase and caspase 3 activities of tissues in the SCI group were significantly reversed by quercetin treatment. Similarly, plasma cytokine levels, which were elevated in the vehicle-treated SCI group, were reduced with quercetin treatment. Furthermore, treatment with quercetin also prevented the depletion of tissue glutathione levels and superoxide dismutase activity seen in the SCI group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the results, quercetin exerts beneficial effects against SCI-induced oxidative damage through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Pharmacy, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozge
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cevik
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erşahin
authors.forename: T Emre
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Sener
authors.forename: Ilker
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tinay
authors.forename: Tufan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tarcan
authors.forename: Sule
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cetinel
authors.forename: Azize
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sener
authors.forename: Hale Z
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Toklu
authors.forename: Göksel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sener
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D023421:Models, Animal; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011794:Quercetin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D016207:Cytokines; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D011794:Quercetin; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D053148:Caspase 3; D005978:Glutathione
keywords: Anti-inflammatory; Antioxidant; Bladder; Caspase 3; Quercetin; Spinal cord injury