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Updated: Mar 5, 2026
A Contusion Model of Severe Spinal Cord Injury in Rats
Published on: August 17, 2013
Metabolomic Changes in Rat Model of Cauda Equina Injury
Yang Liu1, Rui Yang2, Qingjie Kong3
1Student Brigade, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China; Second Department of Spine Surgery, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Background:
To show the differences of metabolomic changes in a rat model of cauda equina injury (CEI) and find potent metabolic biomarkers of CEI.
Methods:
A total of 28 Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. After the rats were given anesthesia and fixed in a prone position, a piece of silicone block was placed into the epidural space below the lamina. Behavior tests including the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan open field locomotor scale and an inclined plane test were conducted 1 day and 2 days after surgery. The cauda equina tissue was collected 12 hours, 1 day, and 2 days after surgery. Ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for a quantitative analysis of cauda equine metabolic changes in rats from different groups. The differences between the metabolic profiles of the rats in 4 groups were analyzed using partial least squares discriminant analysis.
Results:
In behavior tests and histologic analyses given 2 days after surgery, the animals showed remarkable organ dysfunction and pathologic damage. Metabolic profiles showed remarkable differences between the control and model groups. Thirty-four potential CEI metabolite biomarkers were identified between the control group and different time-point model groups. These potential biomarkers appeared in 15 metabolic pathways.
Conclusions:
Our results may improve the cause of CEI and provide a basis for clinical diagnosis and locating biomarkers in the early stages of the pathologic process of CEI.
