《Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation Theory and Practice》 ›› 2018, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (4): 378-384.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-9771.2018.04.002

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Effect of Emodin on Spinal Cord Edema Induced by Acute Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

ZENG Huan-huan, HUANG Ying-ru, LI Zi-jian, WANG Yi, ZHANG Song   

  1. 1. Department of Acupuncture and Orthopaedics of Traditional Chinese Medicine College, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China;
    2. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Prevention and Cure of Metabolic Diseases, Chongqing 400016, China
  • Received:2018-01-15 Revised:2018-01-31 Published:2018-04-25 Online:2018-04-27
  • Contact: HUANG Ying-ru. E-mail: hyr12678@126.com
  • Supported by:
    Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (General) (No. 81373668; No. 81674002)

Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of emodin on spinal cord edema induced by acute spinal cord injury (SCI) and its mechanism.Methods A total of 180 healthy female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (group A), model group (group B), and low-dose group (group C), middle-dose group (group D) and high-dose group (group E) of emodin, with 36 cases in each group. The SCI model was established with the modified Allen's method. Functional recovery was evaluated with Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score and inclined plate test three days, seven days, 14 days and 28 days after modeling. Three days after modeling, the pathological changes of the spinal cord were observed by HE staining; the water content of spinal cord was detected by dry-wet weight method, the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability was detected by Evans blue (EB) staining, and the expression of aquaporin-4 (AQP-4) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) mRNA and protein were detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting respectively. Results The BBB score and inclined plate scores were better in groups C, D and E than in group B (P<0.05) seven days, 14 days and 28 days after modeling, especially in group E (P<0.05). Three days after modeling, HE staining showed that there was a large hemorrhage in the section of group B, the nerve cells were swollen and damaged, and a large number of inflammatory cells were infiltrated, the tissue gap was widened and the edema was severe. The above pathological changes were better in groups C, D and E than in group B, especially in group E. The spinal cord water content was higher in group B than in group A (P<0.05), and was lower in groups D and E than in groups B and C (P<0.05). EB content was higher in group B than in group A (P<0.05), and was lower in groups C, D and E than in group B (P<0.05). The expression of AQP-4, MMP-2 mRNA and protein were lower in groups C, D and E than in group B (P<0.05), especially in group E (P<0.05). Conclusion Emodin can alleviate spinal cord edema, and improve hind limb movement function after SCI, which could be related with the down-regulation of AQP-4 and MMP-2 expression, and the reduction of the permeability of BSCB.

Key words: spinal cord injury, edema, emodin, aquaporin-4, matrix metalloproteinase-2, rats

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