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. 2024 Apr 23:79:100359.
doi: 10.1016/j.clinsp.2024.100359. eCollection 2024.

Glutathione effect on functional and histological recovery after spinal cord injury in rats

Fernando Flores de Araujo  1 , Raphael Martus Marcon  2 , Alexandre Fogaça Cristante  2 , Tarcísio Eloy Pessoa Barros Filho  2
Affiliations

Glutathione effect on functional and histological recovery after spinal cord injury in rats

Fernando Flores de Araujo et al. Clinics (Sao Paulo). .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the GSH effect on functional and histological recovery after experimental spinal cord injury in rats.

Methods: Forty Wistar rats were subjected to spinal cord injury through the Multicenter Animal Spinal Cord Injury Study (MASCIS) Impactor system. The rats were sorted and divided into four groups, as follows: Group 1 ‒ Laminectomy and spinal cord injury; Group 2 ‒ Laminectomy, spinal cord injury and Saline Solution (SS) 0.9%; Group 3 ‒ Laminectomy, spinal cord injury, and GSH; and Group 4 ‒ lLaminectomy without spinal cord injury. GSH and SS were administered intraperitoneally. Groups 1 and 4 received no intervention.

Results: The rats were evaluated for locomotor function recovery at seven different times by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scale on days 2, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 after the spinal cord injury. On day 42, the rats were sacrificed to analyze the histological findings of the injured spinal cord. In the group submitted to GSH, our experimental study revealed better functional scores on the BBB scale, horizontal ladder scale, and cranial and caudal axon count. The differences found were statistically significant in BBB scores and axonal count analysis.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that using glutathione in experimental spinal trauma can lead to better functional recovery and improved axonal regeneration rate in Wistar rats submitted to experimental spinal cord injury.

Keywords: Antioxidants/Drug effects; Central nervous system/injuries; Glutathione; Rats; Spinal cord injuries.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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