Protective effects of dantrolene and methylprednisolone against spinal cord injury-induced early oxidative damage in rabbit bladder: A comparative experimental study

Abstract

Background. Spinal cord injury (SCI) may cause dysfunction in the bladder and many distal organs due to systemic inflammatory response and oxidative stress-related injury. Objectives. We investigated the preventive effects of dantrolene (DNT) and methylprednisolone (MP) on stress-induced tissue damage in rabbit bladder with SCI. Material and methods. A total of 35 rabbits were included in this study and they were divided into 5 groups: group 1-control, group 2-SCI only, group 3-SCI and DNT, group 4-SCI and MP, and group 5-SCI and DNT+MP. Twenty-four hours after SCI, the bladders of these rabbits were removed and the histopathologic changes in the bladder were examined under a light microscope. Additionally, malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and nitric oxide (NO) levels were evaluated as antioxidant agents both in bladder tissue and in blood. Results. Compared to the control group, there was an increase in edema and congestion in all groups. The least amount of edema was observed in the group receiving DNT and the least amount of congestion was observed in the group receiving combined treatment (group 5). No superiority was found between the drug-receiving groups in terms of reducing MDA level in blood and tissue after SCI. The most successful group was the group receiving combined drug therapy in terms of increasing the blood GSH level, which was significantly decreased after SCI. After SCI, blood NO level increased significantly in all groups. Nitric oxide levels in the bladder tissue significantly decreased in the groups receiving DNT and combination therapy and fell in the control group. Conclusions. Dantrolene and MP may have potential benefits against oxidative damage in the bladder after SCIs because of their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. In particular, the combined use of DNT and MP at different doses can be considered a treatment strategy.

Selective Calpain Inhibition Improves Functional and Histopathological Outcomes in a Canine Spinal Cord Injury Model

“…This is manifested by the significant suppression of NO, TNF-α, IL-6, and MDA levels in contrast to elevated SOD activity. In line with the findings of this study, several reports recorded significant declines in TNF-α, IL-6 [ 67 , 68 ], and NO [ 69 ] with an enhanced antioxidant capacity [ 70 , 71 ] upon treating acute SCI with MPSS. Furthermore, the PD results agreed with previous studies by Liu et al [ 72 ], Ni et al [ 73 ], and Chen et al [ 74 ].…”

Methylprednisolone Induces Neuro-Protective Effects via the Inhibition of A1 Astrocyte Activation in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Mouse Models

“…Methylprednisolone (MP) is a glucocorticoid drug that has been used in the clinical treatment of SCI due to its highly effective antiinflammatory properties (Hall and Braughler, 1981). Studies have demonstrated that MP has neuro-protective properties against SCI by inhibiting microglia/macrophage accumulation, reducing calcium influx, increasing blood flow, and protecting glia from dysmetabolic insults (Tang et al, 2015;Keles et al, 2019;Samano and Nistri, 2019).…”