Protective Effects of Salvia Miltiorrhiza on Experimentally Injuried Spinal Cord in Rats

Objective To study the protective effect of salvia miltiorrhiza(SM) on the injuried spinal cord in Wistar rats.Methods 54 adult rats were made as spinal cord contusion models at the T9 segment and divided into three groups:simple spinal cord injury(SCI)group,SCI with methylprednisolon(MP) treatment group and SCI with SM treatment group.The activity of SOD and the concentration of MDA of the injuried spinal cord tissue were measured at 8 and 24h after reagents were intraperitoneally injected.Blood rheology were evaluated by viscometer at the same time.Functional status was assessed by the modified combined behavioral score(CBS) at 2 and 4 weeks after operation respectively.Results In the group treated with SM, the activity of SOD was elevated and level of MDA was reduced significantly(P0.01),moreover,the impaired microcirculation was alleviated and CBS of rats were increased markedly as well.Conclusion Treatment with Salvia miltiorrhiza can alleviate the lipid peroxidation and microcirculative damage resulted from secondary injury and thus show a promising future for treatment of SCI.