Protective Effect of Etomidate on Ischemic Spinal Cord Injury of Rabbits

Objective To study the effect of etomidate on spinal cord injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion(I/R). Methods Twenty four white adult Japanese rabbits were randomly assigned to 3 groups: groupA,sham-operation group(n=8);group B,ischemic reperfusion group;group C,ischemia-reperfusion with etomidate.Spinal cord ischemia was induced by infra-renal aortic cross-clamp for 40 minutes in groupB and group C.Etomidate 0.5 mg·kg-1 was intravenously injected 10 min before clamping and then infused at a rate of 3 mg·kg-1·h-1 until unclamping in group C,0.9% saline was used as control in other groups.After surgical operation,post-operative neurological function,electromyography of rear limbs,histopathology,malondialdehyde(MDA) levels and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activities in the spinal cord were assessed for all animals. Results Compared with group A,group B showed significant I/R injury-induced changes in the neurological function scores,histopathology and electromyography(P0.01).However,groups C treated with etomidate significantly reversed these changes of all parameters(P0.01).Meanwhile,I/R-induced increase in MDA content observed in group B were also significantly reduced in group C(P0.01),and I/R-induced decrease in the SOD activities were also significantly prevented in etomidate-treated group(P0.01). Conclusion Etomidate showed potent protective effects against spinal cord I/R injury in the rabbit model,and protected loss of antioxidant activities of the spinal cord as well.