Preventive Effects of Lecithinized Superoxide Dismutase and Methylprednisolone on Spinal Cord Injury in Rats: Transcriptional Regulation of Inflammatory and Neurotrophic Genes

The effects of lecithinized superoxide dismutase (PC-SOD) and/or methylpredisolone (MP) in preventing secondary pathological changes after spinal cord injury (SCI) were investigated in rats with reference to recovery of hindlimb motor function and expression of mRNA of pro-inflammatory and neurotrophic genes. Hindlimb motor function was assessed as the BBB open field locomotor scores. The BBB scores of three groups treated with either PC-SOD (40,000 units/kg), MP (30 mg/kg), or a combination of PC-SOD and MP (PC-SOD + MP) increased with time until 3 days after SCI, and were significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). Thereafter, the score of the PC-SOD group increased, whereas that of the MP group showed a temporary decrease from day 3 to 5 and then it gradually recovered. The scores in all groups reached a plateau about 18 days after SCI. The PC-SOD + MP group did not show a synergism but a tendency similar to that of the MP group. PC-SOD and MP had down-regulatory effects on mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory substances such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and inducible-nitric oxide synthetase (i-NOS) after spinal cord compression at 3, 6, and 24 h, respectively, as judged by a semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and on the lipid peroxide (LPO) level 1 h after injury as determined by thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances. The suppression of pro-inflammatory genes expression, especially IL-1β, were greater in the MP group than in the PC-SOD group, while suppression of LPO level was similar in these two groups. PC-SOD + MP treatment augmented the suppression of all three pro-inflammatory genes expression and the decrease of the LPO level. The level of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) mRNA increased from 6 h after SCI and reached a maximum after 48 h. NT-3 mRNA level was enhanced by PC-SOD treatment, but not by MP treatment. Thus, the effect of MP in suppressing these pro-inflammatory genes expression was more than that of PC-SOD. The difference in motor function in the early and later stage may be partially due to differences in expression of IL-1β and NT-3 after either treatment, through an IL-1β-dependent or NT-3-mediated repair response.