Can Quercetin be an Option for Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury? An Experimental Study

Özet

AIM: To determine the neuroprotective functions of quercetin and compare them with methylprednisolone in an experimental spinalcord injury model in rats.MATERIAL and METHODS: Thirty male, Wistar rats were assigned to five experimental groups: sham (n=6), trauma (n=6),methylprednisolone (n=6), single dose quercetin (n=6), and multiple doses of quercetin (n=6). An aneurysm clip compression methodwas used to produce spinal cord injury at level T7-9 after performing a laminectomy. In the sham group, only a laminectomy wasperformed. Clip compression was performed to the spinal cord after laminectomy in the trauma group. For Group 3, a single doseof intraperitoneal (ip) methylprednisolone (30mg/kg) was administered after laminectomy and trauma. A single dose of ip quercetin (100mg/kg) was administered after laminectomy and trauma in Group 4. For Group 5, multiple doses of ip quercetin (100 mg/kg)were administered on the first, second, and third days after laminectomy and trauma. Spinal cord and serum samples were obtainedto measure the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), total antioxidant levels (TAL) at the 72nd hour. Neurofunctionalexaminations of all the rats according to Drummond and Moore criteria and inclined-plane tests to evaluate functional healing wereperformed. All rats were sacrificed via intracardiac blood depletion after the procedure.RESULTS: Quercetin and methylprednisolone both increased plasma and tissue levels of NO and MDA, and decreased TAL, witha statistically significant difference (p<0.05). NO and MDA levels in plasma and tissue were significantly higher in the trauma group(Group 2) when compared to the sham group (Group 1), and TAL levels were significantly lower (p<0.05). There was a statisticallysignificant increase in the treatment group’s inclined-plane test (p<0.05), while there was no difference in motor examinationevaluations.CONCLUSION: The results of this experimental study suggest that quercetin can be thought as an option of treatment in spinalcord injury.