Changes of nitric oxide synthase gene expression in injured spinal cord tissue

Objective To study the changes of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) gene expression of its three isoforms in injured spinal cord tissue. Methods Thirty six adult Sprague Dawley rats were divided randomly into six groups: a normal group and five injured groups, six animals in each group. A compression injured model of rat spinal cord was established and the gene expression levels of neuronal NOS (nNOS),inducible NOS (iNOS) and endothelial NOS (eNOS) were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR). Results The expression of NOS mRNA was upregulated after injury: the expression of nNOS mRNA and eNOS mRNA was increased shortly after the injury and reached their peaks at 6 h [( 0.633 ± 0.012 ),( 1.236 ± 0.207 )] , while the expression of iNOS mRNA increased later and reached its peak at 24 h( 1.043 ± 0.049 ). Conclusion The NOS gene expression was increased after spinal cord injury in different ways, but the changes of different types of NOS mRNA were varied. Promation or inhibition of different NOS mRNA may alleviate the secondary spinal cord injruy. [