Relation between spinal cord blood flow and functional recovery after blocking weight-induced spinal cord injury in rats.

Spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) and motor performance on the inclined plane were measured up to 9 days after a reversible spinal cord compression injury in 49 Sprague-Dawley rats. A load of 35 g on 11 mm2 of the thoracic spinal cord for 5 minutes caused transient paraparesis with a decrease in the capacity angle on the inclined plane from 62 +/- 1 degree (mean +/- SEM) before injury to 33 +/- 1 degree on Day 1, 45 +/- 2 degrees on Day 4, d and 54 +/- 3 degrees on Day 9. SCBF was measured by the [14C]iodoantipyrine method, and in gray matter there was a decrease from 78.4 +/- 2.3 ml/min/100 g of tissue in uninjured animals to 33.7 +/- 1.5 ml/min/100 g of tissue on Day 1 after injury, increasing to 50.1 +/- 2.0 on Day 4 and to 70.5 +/- 2.7 ml/min/100 g of tissue on Day 9. At the corresponding times, the SCBF values in white matter were 14.5 +/- 0.5, 6.7 +/- 0.5, 10.2 +/- 0.6, and 13.4 +/- 0.6 ml/min/100 g of tissue, respectively. The animals in another group were loaded with 25 g for 5 minutes and on Day 1 exhibited a capacity angle of 43 +/- 2 degrees while the SCBF values for gray and white matter were 55.1 +/- 2.0 and 11.1 +/- 0.4 ml/min/100 g of tissue, respectively; thus, the results in this group were similar to the values on Day 4 in the animals loaded with 35 g.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)