Turkish Neurosurgery
Can quercetin be an option for treatment of spinal cord injury?: an experimental study
Özgür Öcal1, Alp Özgün Börcek2, Özge Paşaoğlu3, Ayşe Çakır Gündoğdu4, Gülnur Take Kaplanoğlu4, Mustafa Kemali Baykaner2
1AYBÜ, Yenimahalle Education and Research Hospital, Neurosurgery, Ankara,
2Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Neurosurgery, Ankara,
3Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Biochemistry, Ankara,
4Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Histology, Ankara,
DOI: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.23799-18.1
Aim:To determine the neuroprotective functions of quercetin and compare them with methylprednisolone in an experimental spinal cord injury model in rats.Material and Methods:Thirty male, Wistar rats were assigned to five experimental groups. An aneurysm clip compression method was used to produce spinal cord injury at level T7-9.Spinal cord and serum samples were obtained to measure the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), total antioxidant levels (TAL) at the 72nd hour. Neurofunctional examinations of all the rats according to Drummond and Moore criteria and inclined-plane tests to evaluate functional healing were performed. All rats were sacrificed via intracardiac blood depletion after the procedure. Results:Quercetin and methylprednisolone both increased plasma and tissue levels of NO and MDA and decreased TAL, with a statistically significant difference. NO and MDA levels in plasma and tissue were significantly higher in the trauma group (Group 2) compared to the sham group (Group 1), and TAL levels were significantly lower (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant increase in the treatment group’s inclined-plane test, while there was no difference in motor examination evaluations.Conclusion:Quercetin can be thought as an option of treatment of spinal cord injury.
Corresponding author : Özgür Öcal