Premium
Estrogen attenuated markers of inflammation and decreased lesion volume in acute spinal cord injury in rats
Author(s) -
Sribnick Eric Anthony,
Wingrave James Michael,
Matzelle Deborah Denise,
Wilford Gloria Gant,
Ray Swapan Kumar,
Banik Naren Lal
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.20622
Subject(s) - medicine , estrogen , inflammation , lesion , luxol fast blue stain , spinal cord injury , edema , spinal cord , neuroprotection , microglia , endocrinology , laminectomy , pharmacology , myelin , pathology , anesthesia , central nervous system , psychiatry
Abstract Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating neurologic injury with functional deficits for which the only currently recommended pharmacotherapy is high‐dose methylprednisolone, which has limited efficacy. Estrogen is a multiactive steroid that has shown antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects, and estrogen may modulate intracellular Ca 2+ and attenuate apoptosis. For this study, male rats were divided into three groups. Sham group animals received a laminectomy at T12. Injured rats received both laminectomy and 40 g · cm force SCI. Estrogen‐group rats received 4 mg/kg 17β‐estradiol (estrogen) at 15 min and 24 hr post‐injury, and vehicle‐group rats received equal volumes of dimethyl sulfoxide (vehicle). Animals were sacrificed at 48 hr post‐injury, and 1‐cm‐long segments of the lesion, rostral penumbra, and caudal penumbra were excised. Inflammation was assessed by examining tissue edema, infiltration of macrophages/microglia, and levels of cytosolic and nuclear NFκB and inhibitor of kappa B (IκBα). Myelin integrity was examined using Luxol fast blue staining. When compared to sham, vehicle‐treated animals revealed increased tissue edema, increased infiltration of inflammatory cells, decreased cytosolic levels of NFκB and IκBα, increased levels of nuclear NFκB, and increased myelin loss. Treatment of SCI rats with estrogen reduced edema and decreased inflammation and myelin loss in the lesion and penumbral areas, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic agent. Further work needs to be done, however, to elucidate the neuroprotective mechanism of estrogen. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.