ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the serum levels of β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) and hypersensitive-cross-reactive protein(hs-CRP) after acute spinal cord injury(SCI) in rats at different time points and study their roles in secondary spinal cord injury. Methods Ninety healthy adult female SD rats were randomly assigned into 3 even groups.Improved Allen method was used to create models of complete SCI (group A) and models of incomplete SCI (group B).In group C only laminectomy was performed without SCI.The serum was collected at 12 hours,24 hours,3 days,7 days,and 14 days after operation through femoral vein to detect levels of β-APP and hs-CRP by ELISA. ResultsThe serum level of β-APP reached the peak value 24 hours after acute SCI,and the serum level of hs-CRP reached the peak 3 days after acute SCI.There were significant differences between groups A and C in β-APP and hs-CRP levels at all time points( P ＜ 0.05).There were also significant differences between groups B and C in β-APP and hs-CRP levels at all time points (P ＜0.05) except at 14 days (P＞ 0.05). Conclusions The serum levels of β-APP and hs-CRP are positively associated with the severity of traumatic SCI.β-APP may be a more sensitive indicator than hs-CRP in a certain time.The dynamic changes of serum β-APP and hs-CRP suggest involvement of the 2 proteins in the secondary spinal cord injury.