Turkish Neurosurgery 2013 , Vol 23 , Num 1
The Effects of Splenectomy on Lipid Peroxidation and Neuronal Loss in Experimental Spinal Cord Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury
Caglar TEMIZ1, Ilker SOLMAZ1, Ozkan TEHLI1, Serdar KAYA1, Onder ONGURU2, Erhan ARSLAN1, Yusuf IZCI1
1Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, Turkey
2Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Department of Pathology, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.6825-12.1 AIM: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of prior splenectomy on oxidative stress and neuronal loss following spinal cord ischemia and reperfusion injury.

MATERIAL and METHODS: Twenty-one Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups as sham laparatomy (n=7), spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion (SCIR) injury (n=7) and splenectomy+spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion (SSCIR) injury (n=7). In the latter group, splenectomy was performed 3 days before the SCIR injury. The activity of lipid peroxidation in the spinal cord was assessed by malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) activities. The difference between the 3 groups was compared using Kruskal-Wallis test. The histological differences were assessed by counting the viable neurons.

RESULTS: SCIR injury resulted in a decrease of tissue lipid peroxidation activities. There was statistically significance between the three groups (p<0.05), but there was not any significance between the SCIR and SSCIR injury groups (p>0.05). The number of viable neurons was higher in SSCIR group when comparing with SCIR group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: SCIR injury affects lipid peroxidation in rats. Prior splenectomy does not attenuate lipid peroxidation, but prevents neuronal loss after SCIR injury. Keywords : Neuronal loss, Oxidative stress, Spinal cord ischemia, Splenectomy

Corresponding author : Ozkan Tehlı, ozkantehli@gmail.com