Ischemia-induced lipid peroxidation is one of the most important factors producing tissue damage in spinal cord injury. In this study a standard spinal cord injury model in rats was used and the effects of chronic administration of Selenium (3 ppm/lt water orally) before and alpha-tocopherol management (100 mg/kg. intraperitoneally) just after the trauma were investigated. For this purpose animals were divided into three groups:

A (untreated controls). B (selenium-treated). C (alpha-tocopherol-treated). In group-A lipid peroxide levels increased significantly one hour after the trauma. and then decreased. In group-B. this increase was not seen (P<0.05). This study has demonstrated that chronic selenium administration is effective in preventing lipid peroxide formation in spinal cord injury. For grup-C further investigations have been planned.