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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
Experimental Strategies to Bridge Large Tissue Gaps in the Injured Spinal Cord after Acute and Chronic Lesion
Published on: April 5, 2016
Effects of methylprednisolone and ganglioside GM-1 on a spinal lesion: a functional analysis
Márcio Oliveira Penna Carvalho1, Tarcisio Eloy Pessoa de Barros Filho, Marcos Antonio Tebet
1Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. marciopennac@uol.com.br
Objectives:
The pharmacological effects of methylprednisolone (MP) and ganglioside GM-1 on spinal injuries have been thoroughly investigated, but only a few studies have evaluated the interaction between these two drugs.
Methods:
Twenty-four Wistar rats were subjected to contusive injury of the spinal cord produced by the NYU system. These animals were divided into four groups: group I was injected with MP; group II was injected with GM-1; group III was injected with MP together with GM-1; and group control received physiological serum. The animals were evaluated with regard to their recovery of locomotive function by means of the BBB test on the second, seventh and fourteenth days after receiving the contusive injury to the spinal cord. They were sacrificed on the fourteenth day.
Results:
This study demonstrated that the MP and GM-1 groups presented functional results that were better than those of the control group, although the enhanced recovery of group II (GM-1) relative to the control group was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The most notable recovery of locomotive function was observed in the group that received MP alone (p<0.05). The group that received MP together with GM-1 presented results that were better than those of the control group (p<0.05).
Conclusion:
Administration of methylprednisolone alone or with GM-1 was shown to be effective for recovery of locomotive function. Combined administration of these drugs resulted in better outcomes than administration of methylprednisolone alone.