[Protective effect of adenosine receptor agonists in a model of spinal cord injury in rats]

Possibilities of the neuroprotector therapy using adenosine and cyclopentyladenosine (CPA), an adenosine receptor agonist, were studied on a model of spinal cord injury by compression in rats (most closely reproducing the analogous clinical pathological process in humans). The model was induced by slow, graded compression of the spinal cord at the thoracic level. Adenosine and CPA were introduced 60 min before injury by subcutaneous injections in a dose of 300 and 2.5 micrograms/kg, respectively. The protective effect was judged by comparing the neurological, electromyographic, and histopathological changes in animals with the model injury and in the control group (adenosine and CPA background). The A1-agonist CPA injections produced a pronounced, statistically significant neuroprotector effect on the given spinal cord injury model in rats. The neuroprotective effect of adenosine was significant but not as strong. It is concluded that it is expedient to use A-agonists in clinics.