title: Methylprednisolone inhibits Nogo-A protein expression after acute spinal cord injury.
abstract: Oligodendrocyte-produced Nogo-A has been shown to inhibit axonal regeneration. Methylprednisolone plays an effective role in treating spinal cord injury, but the effect of methylprednisolone on Nogo-A in the injured spinal cord remains unknown. The present study established a rat model of acute spinal cord injury by the weight-drop method. Results showed that after injury, the motor behavior ability of rats was reduced and necrotic injury appeared in spinal cord tissues, which was accompanied by increased Nogo-A expression in these tissues. After intravenous injection of high-dose methylprednisolone, although the pathology of spinal cord tissue remained unchanged, Nogo-A expression was reduced, but the level was still higher than normal. These findings implicate that methylprednisolone could inhibit Nogo-A expression, which could be a mechanism by which early high dose methylprednisolone infusion helps preserve spinal cord function after spinal cord injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Spinal Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhaozong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Spinal Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Spinal Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spinal Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spinal Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhaofei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Nogo-A; methylprednisolone; myelonecrosis; neural regeneration; neuroregeneration; oligodendrocyte; photographs-containing paper; spinal cord injury; spinal cord pathology; weight-drop contusion