Interstitial and tissue cations and electrical potential after experimental spinal cord injury

Interstitial and tissue cations and electrical potential were studied in an experimental model of spinal cord contusion injury in anaesthetised cats. Measurements of interstitial ion activity in the grey matter at the injury site (with ion-selective electrodes), showed a decrease of sodium and calcium, an increase of potassium, a small acidification and a negative shift in the electrical potential 5 min after injury. The interstitial ionic changes were completely reversible within 90 min following injury. Measurements of the ion content in a tissue sample from the injury site (flame photometry) showed an increase of sodium and calcium and a decrease of potassium 5 min after injury. The magnitude of the post-injury sodium change was much larger than the potassium change, both for interstitial and tissue measurements. Treatment of the animals with the calcium entry blocker flunarizine before the injury did not influence the magnitude of post-injury interstitial calcium decrease but significantly increased the rate of subsequent recovery. Pre-injury flunarizine treatment also significantly increased the recovery rate of the electrical potential. The experiments suggest the occurrence of a net ionic shift towards the intracellular space, which may contribute to oedema formation in the very early post-injury period. The post-injury decrease of interstitial calcium activity is probably not mediated by flunarizine-sensitive calcium entry mechanisms; such mechanisms may, however, be involved in the subsequent recovery period for interstitial calcium activity. Calcium ions may be involved in the recovery process of the negative electrical potential after injury.