Department of Spine Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, PR China.
J Neurol Sci. 2013 Jan 15;324(1-2):94-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2012.10.009. Epub 2012 Nov 7.
In the present study, we explored the effects of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), an alkaloid extracted from the Chinese herbal medicine Ligusticum wallichii Franchat (chuanxiong), on a rat model of contusion spinal cord injury (SCI). The contusion SCI model was induced in rats by a modified Allen's weight-drop method with a severity of 5 g × 50 mm impacting on the T10 segment. In the TMP treatment group, rats were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with TMP (200mg/kg), every 24h for 5 days, starting half an hour after contusion SCI. The control group was treated with saline. Compared with the control group, the TMP group significantly ameliorated the recovery of hindlimb function of rats. TMP treatment significantly reduced the expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor, nuclear factor κappa B, pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-18 and neutrophil infiltration. On the other hand, TMP enhanced the expression of inhibitor κappa B and anti-inflammation cytokine interleukin-10. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that TMP inhibits the development of inflammation and tissue injury associated with spinal cord contusion in rats which may improve the rats' hindlimb function.
在本研究中，我们探讨了川芎嗪（TMP）对大鼠挫伤性脊髓损伤（SCI）模型的影响。TMP 是从中药川芎中提取的生物碱。采用改良的 Allen 重物跌落法诱导大鼠 SCI 模型，在 T10 节段以 5g×50mm 的重量冲击。在 TMP 治疗组中，大鼠在挫伤 SCI 后半小时通过腹腔注射（i.p.）给予 TMP（200mg/kg），每天 24 小时 1 次，连续 5 天。对照组给予生理盐水。与对照组相比，TMP 组大鼠后肢功能恢复明显改善。TMP 治疗显著降低了巨噬细胞移动抑制因子、核因子κB、促炎细胞因子白细胞介素-18 和中性粒细胞浸润的表达。另一方面，TMP 增强了抑制因子κB 和抗炎细胞因子白细胞介素-10 的表达。总之，我们的结果表明，TMP 抑制了与大鼠脊髓挫伤相关的炎症和组织损伤的发展，可能改善大鼠的后肢功能。
