The Effect of Nimodipine on Experimental Spinal Cord Injury

ABSTRACT

Nimodipine the potent, centrally active, clacium channel blocker, is known to increase cerebral and spinal blood flow. In the present study, the authors investigated the effect on Nimodipine on injured spinal cord. The experiment was a randomized blind study in which four groups of five cats received Nimodipine(0.05mg/kg) intravenously, and control groups of five cats received only Diluent. 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 frozened-dried sample of the spinal cord and fine structure of the mylinated nerve fiber in the white matter were observed. An increase of lipid peroxidation level was found as early as 1 hour after the injury and the highest concentration was reached at 5 hours after the injury(P<0.01). Fine structures of the myelinated nerve fibers were changed progressively with the lapse of time after the injury. The effect of Nimodipine on lipid peroxidation and fine ultrastructural changes of myelinated nerve fibers were studied, and the result of this study revealed that Nimodipine groups showed a lower level of lipid peroxidation with statistical significance(P<0.05) and preservation of ultrastructural myelinated nerve fiber was prominent.