The Protective Effect of Salvianolic Acid B on Blood–Spinal Cord Barrier After Compression Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

Abstract

Salvianolic acid B (Sal B), a bioactive compound isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb danshen, is commonly used for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. The present study was performed to investigate the effect of Sal B on the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) after spinal cord injury (SCI) in a rat model. Sal B (1, 10, and 50 mg/kg i.v.) was administered to rats immediately following SCI. The permeability of the BSCB and spinal cord tissue water content were evaluated. Additionally, the expression levels of tight junction proteins and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) were monitored by Western blot analysis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis of spinal cord tissue homogenates was performed 24 h post-SCI to evaluate the expression of inflammation-related cytokines. In addition, the motor recovery of SCI rats was assessed using the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan scoring system. Compared to the SCI group, rats treated with Sal B (10, 50 mg/kg) exhibited significantly reduced spinal cord tissue water content and BSCB permeability. Further, the motor function of rats was also greatly improved by Sal B administration. The expression of pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α and NF-κB was found to be greatly increased 24 h post-SCI, and this upregulation was significantly attenuated by Sal B treatment. The expression of ZO-1 and occludin was upregulated by Sal B (10 mg/kg) treatment after SCI, and this effect was blocked by the HO-1 inhibitor ZnPP. Taken together, our results clearly indicate that Sal B attenuates SCI by promoting the repair of the damaged BSCB, demonstrating that this molecule is a novel and promising therapeutic agent for human SCI.

Very High Resolution Ultrasound Imaging for Real-Time Quantitative Visualization of Vascular Disruption after Spinal Cord Injury

“…This could have an important impact on clinical translational efforts, given that the lack of biomarkers to detect therapeutic effects is an important gap in the field that could be bridged by this technology. 32,33 In addition, given sufficient exposure of the lesioned spinal cord after decompressive laminectomy, peri-and intraoperative VHRUS has the potential to enhance the accuracy of prognosis of SCI by enabling a fast, safe, and accurate visualization of the severity and extent of the vascular lesion. It can also theoretically improve the accuracy of targeted stereotactic cell injections and minimize damage to spared tissue.…”

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and NF-κB Pathway in Salidroside Mediated Neuroprotection: Potential of Salidroside in Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…Numerous studies have shown that multiple herbs and herbal extracts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are effective in the treatment of central nervous system diseases such as Parkinson's disease (Hong et al, 2014), Alzheimer disease (Rafii et al, 2011) and spinal cord injury (Fan et al, 2013). Rhodiola is a widely used TCM herb that has been shown to improve cognitive function, reduce mental fatigue, decrease free radicals, and enhance learning and memory (Darbinyan et al, 2000;Shevtsov et al, 2003).…”

Effect of lycopene on the blood-spinal cord barrier after spinal cord injury in mice

“…Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe trauma of the central nervous system (CNS) that results in loss of blood vessels and disruption of the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) (1,2). Previous studies focused largely on alleviating neurological manifestations of the injury while ignoring pathological changes in the spinal cord (3).…”