Early neuroprotective effect of high-dose methylprednisolone for acute hemi-sected spinal cord injury in rats

Objective To evaluate the early neuroprotective effect of high-dose methyprednisolone(MP)for acute hemi-sected spinal cord injury in rats.Methods Fifty Sprague-Dawley rats were involved in this experiment.Ten rats selected randomly were performed laminectomy only as the control group(Group C),and other 40 rats were randomly divided into 2 groups:acute hemi-sected spinal cord injury group(Group hs-SCI,20 rats),and the MP administration group with hemi-sected spinal cord injury(Group MP,20 rats).Rats in each group were randomly divided into 2 groups and tested by the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan functional scale(BBB scale)respectively at the 1st day and 7th days after SCI.The pathomorphologic changes of the injured spine were observed,neurofilament(NF)and glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP)were also tested by immunohistochemical method.Results The administration of high-dose MP after SCI immediately improved the BBB scale significantly.The pathologic changes of the injured spinal cord were improved significantly in the MP group.The expression of NF increased and the expression of the GFAP decreased significantly in the MP group.Conclusion The administration of high-dose MP early has neuroprotective effect for acute hemi-sected spinal cord injury in rats.