title: Propofol protects against blood-spinal cord barrier disruption induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury.
abstract: Propofol has been shown to exert neuroprotective effects on the injured spinal cord. However, the effect of propofol on the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) after ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated whether propofol could maintain the integrity of the BSCB. Spinal cord IRI (SCIRI) was induced in rabbits by infrarenal aortic occlusion for 30 minutes. Propofol, 30 mg/kg, was intravenously infused 10 minutes before aortic clamping as well as at the onset of reperfusion. Then, 48 hours later, we performed histological and mRNA/protein analyses of the spinal cord. Propofol decreased histological damage to the spinal cord, attenuated the reduction in BSCB permeability, downregulated the mRNA and protein expression levels of matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and upregulated the protein expression levels of occludin and claudin-5. Our findings suggest that propofol helps maintain BSCB integrity after SCIRI by reducing MMP-9 expression, by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway, and by maintaining expression of tight junction proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Liyuan Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Li-Jie
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Liyuan Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Xiu
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Liyuan Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Liyuan Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Liyuan Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Shuang-Shuang
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Qi-Jing
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Liyuan Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1175-752X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
keywords: blood–spinal cord barrier; matrix metalloprotease-9; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; nuclear factor-κB; propofol; spinal cord ischemia reperfusion injury; tight junction proteins