Effect of exogenous vascular endothelial growth factor on injured spinal cord

Objective To investigate the protective effect of exogenous vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) on spinal cord tissue after spinal cord injury(SCI) in adult rats.Methods A contusion injury was produced to adult rats by using the modulated Allen's weight drop method. After SCI.seventy-two model rats were randomly divided into three groups,and the drugs were injected into subrachnoid space at the lesion site.In group A:saline 10μL,in group B:Matrigel 10μL,in group C:human recombinant VEGF_(165)+Matrigel 10μL.1,2,3,4 weeks after surgery, animals were killed to study spinal cord pathologic histology and the number of neurons.Results VEGF-treated animals had an increased amount of spared tissue in the lesion area.The number of neurons in VEGF-treated animals was much better than that in the control groups at all time points following SCI.Conclusion The exogenous vascular endothelial growth factor can protect spinal cord tissue from damage caused by spinal cord injury.