ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate effect of monosialotetrahexosy-1 ganglioside (GM1) on the autophagic neuronal death induced by spinal cord injury.Methods Ninety SD rats were randomly divided into sham group,isotonic saline group and GM1 group,with 30 rats per group.Spinal cord injury at T10 segment was induced by Allen method in the isotonic saline group and GM1 group.Expression of endogenous LC3 was detected by florescence microscope.Ratio of LC3-Ⅱ and LC3-Ⅰ,and expression of Beclin-1 were detected by Western blot.Results LC3 was significantly up-regulated in the isotonic saline group,as compared to the sham group (P <0.05).Also,an up-regulation of LC3 and a decline of autophagic body formation were observed in GM1 group,as compared to isotonic saline group (P <0.05).Expressions of LC3-Ⅱ and Beclin-1 and ratio of LC3-Ⅱ to LC3-Ⅰ were significantly increased in the isotonic saline group,as compared to the sham group (P < 0.05).Expressions of LC3-Ⅱ and Beclin1 and ratio of LC3-Ⅱ to LC3-Ⅰ significantly were decreased in the GM1 group,when compared to the isotonic saline group (P < 0.05).Conclusion GM1 inhibits autophagic neuronal death after spinal cord injury and hence exerts protective effect on the neurons.