Effects of Methylprednisolone on the Expression and Activity of Calpain Following Ischemia-Reperfusion Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

Zifeng Zhang, Jinquan Xu, Yushu Bai, Tiesheng Hou

Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Guanghua Integrative Medicine Hospital, Changning District, Shanghai, China; School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

DOI: 10.4236/nm.2014.51005                

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of methylprednisolone on the expression and activity of calpain in spinal cord tissue following spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to sham operations, ischemia-reperfusion and vehicle treated, or ischemia-reperfusion with methylprednisolone administration after injury. The expression of calpain I in the injured segments of the spinal cord as well as the degradation of the 68 kD neurofilament protein (NFP), a calpain-specific substrate, was determined at 3 h, 24 h, 72 h and 7 days after reperfusion using immunohistochemical labeling and western blot analysis, respectively. Three hours after spinal cord reperfusion, calpain I-positive cells and NFP degradation products were evident. The number of positive cells and immunoreactivity increased with time and peaked at 72 h after reperfusion. In addition, the number of calpain I-positive cells and the abundance of NFP degradation products were significantly lower in the methylprednisolone group, compared with vehicle treated animals following ischemia-reperfusion injury. The results of this study suggest that methylprednisolone can inhibit the expression and degradation activity of calpain following ischemia-reperfusion injury, providing further insight into the therapeutic benefits of methylprednisolone treatment for spinal cord injury.

Keywords

Methylprednisolone; Spinal Cord Injury; Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury; Calpain

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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