title: Memantine and Q-VD-OPh Treatments in Experimental Spinal Cord Injury: Combined Inhibition of Necrosis and Apoptosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of NMDA receptor antagonist memantine and pancaspase inhibitor Q-VD-Oph in combination or alone in experimental spinal cord injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  45 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. Spinal cord injury was created with the clip compression technique. The drugs were administered either alone of in combination to the subjects according to their groups. Motor function was assessed with Tarlov's motor grading scale and the inclined plane technique. The subjects were sacrificed at the fifth postoperative day. Histopathological examination was done with the use of hematoxylin eosin and TUNEL staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results for TUNEL staining and apoptotic cell counts revealed statistically significant differences in Q-VD-Oph and combined treatment groups. Tarlov motor grading scale and inclined plane test results were also found significantly better in these two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Combined use of memantine and Q-VD-OPh provides better histological and clinical results. The combined inhibition of the two major pathways, necrosis and apoptosis, needs to be further assessed with in-vivo or in-vitro studies.
authors.affiliation: Istanbul University, Istanbul School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aydin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aydoseli
authors.forename: Halil
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Can
authors.forename: Yavuz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aras
authors.forename: Pulat Akin
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Sabanci
authors.forename: Mehmet Osman
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Akcakaya
authors.forename: Omer Faruk
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Unal
mesh_terms: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008559:Memantine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009336:Necrosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011804:Quinolines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D011804:Quinolines; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; C468548:quinoline-val-asp(OMe)-CH2-OPH; D008559:Memantine