Effect of recombinant human erythropietin administrated at different time point on neurofunction recovery after acute SCI：an experimental study on rat model

English Keywords:Acute spinal cord injury  Recombinant human erythropoietin  Pharmacotherapy  Apoptosis  Ｒat

English Abstract:

  【Abstract】 Objective：To identify the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin（rHuEPO） administrated at different time point on neurofunction recovery after SCI.Method：An acute spinal cord injury（ASCI） animal model was induced by clip of T10 spinal cord.After ASCI，forty female rats were randomly divided into five groups with eight rats in each group.Groups A，B，C and D received 5000IU/kg of rHuEPO by intraperitoneal injection at 0 min，1 hour，3 hours and 6 hours after ASCI respectively，with single dose for each group. Group E received the same dose of saline solution immediately after ASCI.BBB motor function score was recorded at 4 post-injury time points（1，3，5，7 days），and TUNEL staining and anti-active caspase-3 staining was used to evaluate the cell apoptosis at 3，7 days after injury.Result：BBB score at 1 day and 3 days among each group showed no diffference（P>0.05），while at 5 days after injury，BBB score of group A，B and C were higher than that of group D and E（P<0.01）.No significant intergroup difference were noted among group A，B，C and group D，E（P>0.05）.At 7 days after injury，BBB score of group D was higher than group E（P<0.01），while lower than group A，B and C（P<0.01），and no difference were noted among group A，B and C（P>0.05）.At 3 and 7 days after injury，the number of TUNEL-positive cells in group A，B and C was significantly less than those in group E（P<0.01），and TUNEL-positive cells in group D were more than those in group A，B and C at 7 days after injury（P<0.05），no difference were noted among group A，B and C（P>0.05）.Caspase-3 positive cells in group D were more than those in group A，B and C at 3 days after injury（P<0.05），while no difference were noted among group A，B and C（P>0.05）.At 7 days after injury，no difference were noted among group A，B，C and D（P>0.05） with regard to caspase-3 positive cells（P<0.05）.Conclusion：Administration of rHuEPO within 3 hours after ASCI can significantly improve motor function and inhibit neuron apoptosis，while this effect remains fair when administered over 6 hours after ASCI.