Effect of High Dose Methylprednisolone on Heat Shock Protein 27 Expression after Spinal Cord Injury

Objective To investigate the effect of high dose Methylprednisolone(MP) on heat shock protein27(HSP27) expression after spinal cord injury.Methods 90 rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal group,control group,Methyprednisolone treatment group.Improved Allen′s weight drop model of acute spinal cord injury was prepared to study the pathological changes of spinal cord.After 6hs,24hs and 7 days,the spinal cords were taken out and cut,then the pathological changes of spinal cord cells with HE staining and the expression of HSP27 in spinal cord cells with immunohistochemical staining were observed respectively.The data were analysed with SPSS soft ware.Results ①The expression of HSP27 which was protective to central nerves in the MP treatment groups was up-regulated.The quantity of HSP27 in spinal cord cells in control groups and MP treatment groups had a difference in statistics(P0.05).②The pathological changes of spinal cord cells were significantly improved in MP treatment groups.Conclusion The present results indicate that high-dose methylprednisolone treatment in an early period induces the upregulation of HSP27 and it might provocate and enhance the self-protection and self-repair of the injured central nerves in the view of morphology.