Highlights
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Glutathione is important in protecting secondary spinal cord injury from oxidative stress.
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As the secondary injury progresses, depletion in its reduced form occurs.
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Using glutathione in traumatic spinal cord injury could help control the neurological injury.
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In an experimental setting, the use of glutathione provided better functional scores after traumatic spinal cord injury.
Abstract
Objective
The aim of this study was to evaluate the GSH effect on functional and histological recovery after experimental spinal cord injury in rats.
Methods
Forty Wistar rats were subjected to spinal cord injury through the Multicenter Animal Spinal Cord Injury Study (MASCIS) Impactor system. The rats were sorted and divided into four groups, as follows: Group 1 ‒ Laminectomy and spinal cord injury; Group 2 ‒ Laminectomy, spinal cord injury and Saline Solution (SS) 0.9%; Group 3 ‒ Laminectomy, spinal cord injury, and GSH; and Group 4 ‒ lLaminectomy without spinal cord injury. GSH and SS were administered intraperitoneally. Groups 1 and 4 received no intervention.
Results
The rats were evaluated for locomotor function recovery at seven different times by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scale on days 2, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 after the spinal cord injury. On day 42, the rats were sacrificed to analyze the histological findings of the injured spinal cord. In the group submitted to GSH, our experimental study revealed better functional scores on the BBB scale, horizontal ladder scale, and cranial and caudal axon count. The differences found were statistically significant in BBB scores and axonal count analysis.
Conclusion
This study demonstrated that using glutathione in experimental spinal trauma can lead to better functional recovery and improved axonal regeneration rate in Wistar rats submitted to experimental spinal cord injury.
Keywords
Glutathione; Spinal cord injuries; Central nervous system/injuries; Rats; Antioxidants/Drug effects