Effect of early operative decompression on the expression of caspase-3 after spinal cord injury

Objective To study the effective on early operative decompression on caspase-3 after spinal cord injury(SCI).Methods Experimental rats were divided into four groups:Spinal cord contusion injury immediately operative decompression group(group A);operative decompression at 2 hours group(group B);at 8 hours group(group C);at 24 hours group(group D);After operation Tarlv score,somatosensory evoked potentials(SEP),motor evoked potentials(MEP)were examined.Rats were killed at 1,3,7,14 and 28 day.The apoptosis of spinal slice from the injured spinal cord of the expression of caspase-3 was measured by immunohistochemistry.The positive cells were quantitative analyzed by a computer image analysis system.Results The number of caspase-3 positive expression cells were found in four groups,they were DCBA(P0.05).These decreases in caspase-3 positive cells were paralleled by a significant improvement in neurological function recovery.Conclusion It indicates that the early operative decompression can inhibit the apoptosis of spinal cord and can improve hind limb function of rats after spinal cord injury.