Histopathologic assessment of panax notoginseng saponins in rat spinal cord injury

Experimental spinal cord injury(SCI) model was made by Allen's technique- Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) was injected (50~ 100mg/kg ) intra peritoneally at 30min, 2h, 4h, the second and the third day after trauma. Pathological changes were compared with that of dimethyl sulfoxide in the control at 30min, 2h, 6h, 24h, 1 week and 6 weeks after impact by light and electron microscopy.The result revealed the less hemorrhage and necrosis of the grey matter. The surrounding white mater survived,capillaries and oligodendrocytes abundant proliferated. It showed PNS improved the spinal cord microcirculation,decreased the secondary pathological damage markedly and protected the white matter in early stage of SCI.