Neuroprotective effects of sufentanil preconditioning on spinal cord injury in mouse models / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Sufentanil exerts protective effects on tissues, but its roles in the repair of nervous system injury and the underlying mechanism are stil unknown. OBJECTIVE:To explore the protective effect of sufentanil preconditioning in the repair of spinal cord injuries and the underlying mechanism. METHODS:Mouse models of spinal cord injuries were prepared through clipping spinal cord fol owed by intraperitoneal injection of 3 and 6μg/kg sufentanil, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUISON(1) Western blotting, ELISA and TUNEL assays showed that 6μg/kg sufentanil significantly down-regulated the protein expression levels of TLR4, nuclear factor-κBp65, cleaved-caspase 3, tumor necrosis factor-αand interlenkin-1βin the spinal cord of mice (P<0.05);at the same time, the number of apoptotic neurons was significantly decreased (P<0.05). (2) Furthermore, high-dose sufentanil preconditioning significantly ameliorated the recovery of limb function at 14 days after injury (P<0.05). (3) These results administrate that the neuroprotection provided by 6μg/kg sufentanil preconditioning for spinal cord injuries in mice maybe related to the TLR4/nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway inactivation.