Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 overexpression inhibits neuronal apoptosis after spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH) is an important factor in inhibiting oxidative stress and has been shown to protect against renal ischemia/reperfusion injury. Therefore, we hypothesized that ALDH could reduce spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury. Spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury was induced in rats using the modified Zivin's method of clamping the abdominal aorta. After successful model establishment, the agonist group was administered a daily consumption of 2.5% alcohol. At 7 days post-surgery, the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan score significantly increased in the agonist group compared with the spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury group. ALDH expression also significantly increased and the number of apoptotic cells significantly decreased in the agonist group than in the spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury group. Correlation analysis revealed that ALDH expression negatively correlated with the percentage of TUNEL-positive cells ( = -0.485, < 0.01). In summary, increased ALDH expression protected the rat spinal cord against ischemia/reperfusion injury by inhibiting apoptosis.