Expression of Caspase-8 in rat with acute spinal cord injury

Objective:To observe relationship and significance of changes in the expression and the level of Caspase-8 in the tissue and blood plasma after rat spinal cord was acutely injured.Methods:Eighty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups with 12 in each group,and one group was used as control group and the 6 others were prepared into acute spinal cord injury models,as 0h,6h,12h,24h,48h and 72h injury groups.The caspase-8 value in the tissue and blood plasma at different time points was detected after spinal cord injury by applying immunohistochemical method and ELISA.Results:Soon after acute spinal cord injury,the tissue and blood plasma Caspase-8 showed the positive expression,at 24h-48h,the Caspase-8 expression in the tissue and blood plasma reached a peak,at and 72h after injury began to decrease but still higher than that of the normal control group.Conclusion:At the early stage of the spinal cord injury,the Caspase-8 expression in the tissue and blood plasma is significantly increased,with a corresponding relation to time,which will help the selection of the opportunity of the clinic intervention in acute spinal cord injury .