The effect of chondroitinase ABC combined with hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning treatment on the motor function of hindlimbs in spinal cord injury rats

Objective To study the effect of Chondroitinase(ChABC) combined with hyperbaric oxygen pretreatment(HBOP) on the motor function of hindlimbs and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in gastrocnemius in spinal cord injury rat at different time. Methods Eighty adult female Wistar rats weighted 250～300g were randomly divided averagely into 4 groups:sham group, spinal cord injury group(SCI), HBOP, HBOP+ChABC groups. The acute spinal cord injury rat models were established by semi-transverse method at 3d, 7d, 14d and 28d respectively after the injury. The motor function of hindlimbs was determined by BBB score, AchE activity in gastrocnemius muscle was detected by HE dyeing, the average optical density(AOD) values of AChE positive product were determined by Image-Pro Plus 6.0 analysis system. Results The BBB score and AChE activity were obviously higher in sham group than in SCI group. The BBB score was higher in HBOP and HBOP+ChABC groups than in SCI group 14d and 28d after injury( P0.05), higher in HBOP+ChABC group than in HBOP group 28d after injury( P0.05). The AchE activity in affected gastrocnemius muscle was higher in HBOP group and HBOP+ChABC group than in SCI group, higher in HBOP+ChABC group than in HBOP group14d and 28d after injury(P 0.05). Conclusion HBOP pretreatment improved the motor function of affected hindlimbs and AChE activity in affected gastrocnemius muscle, the combination with HBOP had more effect in spinal cord injury rats.