title: The Neuroprotective Effect of Kefir on Spinal Cord Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main causes of spinal cord ischemia are a variety of vascular pathologies causing acute arterial occlusions. We investigated neuroprotective effects of kefir on spinal cord ischemia injury in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rats were divided into three groups : 1) sham operated control rats; 2) spinal cord ischemia group fed on a standard diet without kefir pretreatment; and 3) spinal cord ischemia group fed on a standard diet plus kefir. Spinal cord ischemia was performed by the infrarenal aorta cross-clamping model. The spinal cord was removed after the procedure. The biochemical and histopathological changes were observed within the samples. Functional assessment was performed for neurological deficit scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The kefir group was compared with the ischemia group, a significant decrease in malondialdehyde levels was observed (p<0.05). Catalase and superoxide dismutase levels of the kefir group were significantly higher than ischemia group (p<0.05). In histopathological samples, the kefir group is compared with ischemia group, there was a significant decrease in numbers of dead and degenerated neurons (p<0.05). In immunohistochemical staining, hipoxia-inducible factor-1α and caspase 3 immunopositive neurons were significantly decreased in kefir group compared with ischemia group (p<0.05). The neurological deficit scores of kefir group were significantly higher than ischemia group at 24 h (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study revealed that kefir pretreatment in spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion reduced oxidative stress and neuronal degeneration as a neuroprotective agent. Ultrastructural studies are required in order for kefir to be developed as a promising therapeutic agent to be utilized for human spinal cord ischemia in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guven
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tarik
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akman
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Umit
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Yener
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muserref Hilal
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Sehitoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Afyon Kocatepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Afyon, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cosar
keywords: Cultured milk products; Reperfusion injury; Spinal cord ischemia