The effects of taxol, methylprednisolone, and 4-aminopyridine in compressive spinal cord injury: a qualitative experimental study
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Published on: January 5, 2015
M A Perez-Espejo1, S S Haghighi, E H Adelstein
1Division of Neurosurgery, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA.
Background:
Taxol is a diterpene alkaloid that stimulates tubulin production in cells. It may be effective in preserving the cytoskeleton of spinal cord axons after injury.
Methods:
Thirty-nine rats were submitted to spinal cord compression. The animals were divided into three groups that received taxol (18.75 mg/m2), methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg), or 4-aminopyridine (1 mg/kg). Taxol was administered as one dose immediately after injury and two additional doses on days 14 and 21. Methylprednisolone was given as a single injection immediately postinjury. Four-aminopyridine was administered on days 25, 26, and 27. A group of nine injured animals served as a control without any treatment. Evoked potentials were recorded before, during, and 4 weeks postinjury. Behavioral tests were measured to evaluate recovery of motor function.
Results:
The taxol and methylprednisolone-treated animals demonstrated a significant improvement in comparison with the control group. No functional improvement was found at 1 mg/kg treatment of 4-aminopyridine in rats.
Conclusions:
We conclude that taxol and methylprednisolone given shortly after the compression injury improve functional outcome after an incomplete spinal cord injury.
