Comparison of a serotonin antagonist, opioid antagonist, and TRH analog for the acute treatment of experimental spinal trauma

The therapeutic efficacies of a serotonin antagonist (mianserin), an opioid antagonist (nalmefene), and a TRH analog (YM-14673) were compared in a well-characterized model of experimental spinal trauma in the rat. Injury was produced by the weight-drop method at T10 and confirmed by the disappearanc...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of neurotrauma Vol. 8; no. 3; p. 193
Main Authors:	Puniak, M A, Freeman, G M, Agresta, C A, Van Newkirk, L, Barone, C A, Salzman, S K
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 1991
Subjects:	Animals Azetidines - therapeutic use Dipeptides - therapeutic use Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory - drug effects Male Mianserin - therapeutic use Naltrexone - analogs & derivatives Naltrexone - therapeutic use Narcotic Antagonists - therapeutic use Prognosis Rats Rats, Inbred Strains Spinal Cord - chemistry Spinal Cord Injuries - drug therapy Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone - analogs & derivatives Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone - therapeutic use
Online Access:	Get more information
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The therapeutic efficacies of a serotonin antagonist (mianserin), an opioid antagonist (nalmefene), and a TRH analog (YM-14673) were compared in a well-characterized model of experimental spinal trauma in the rat. Injury was produced by the weight-drop method at T10 and confirmed by the disappearance of the somatosensory evoked response during the subsequent 15 minutes. Drug or vehicle treatments were administered randomly as a single intravenous bolus 15 minutes after injury. Functional outcome was blindly assessed for 2 weeks postinjury using a modified Tarlov scale and the Rivlin-Tator angleboard test. The survival of descending raphe-spinal axons was determined by measurement of serotonin in postmortem spinal tissues located above and below the injury, and histopathologic studies were carried out at the site of injury. All agents displayed similar and significant efficacies with respect to Tarlov and Rivlin-Tator measures of motor recovery and preservation of raphe-spinal fibers below the lesion site. In contrast, none of the agents were effective for preserving the central gray matter or myelin staining in the white matter in slices of tissue from the site of injury. Results are discussed in terms of the early treatment of spinal cord injury and future clinical trials.
ISSN:	0897-7151
DOI:	10.1089/neu.1991.8.193