ABSTRACT
Spinal Cord contusions in cats were produced experimentally by impact injuries to the surgically exposed cord at the second lumbar vertebral level. As a step in the investigation of the possible effect of spinal cord trauma on biochemical and ultrastructural changes in the injured cord, activities of lipid peroxidation were measured in the frozen-dried sample of the spinal cord and the fine structure of the myelinated nerve fiber in the white matter were observed before and after the cord injury. An increase of lipid peroxidation level was found as early as 30 minutes after the injury and the highest concentration was reached at 4 hours of injury. Fine structures of the myelinated nerve fibers were changed progressively with the lapse of time after the injury. By 1 hour after the contusion the myelinated nerve fibers showed moderately enlarged periaxonal space, attenuation and disarray of the myelin sheaths. By 4 hour after the contusion, there appeared disarray of the myelin sheaths, greatly enlarged periaxonal space and irregulary contoured axons. The effect of naloxone of the lipid peroxidation and fine ultrastructure of the myelinated nerve fibers were studied, and the results of this study suggested that naloxone have a beneficial effect on the change in lipid peroxidation and the preservation of the myelinated nerve fibers after injury.