Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Propofol combined with hyperbaric oxygen improves the prognosis of spinal cord injury in rats via MAPK/ERK signaling pathway

Ting Shen, Yan Wang, Feng Xu, Jianyu Man, Juan Zeng

Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, China;

For correspondence:- Juan Zeng Email: 1076006678@qq.com Tel:+8618907347565

Accepted: 28 March 2022 Published: 30 April 2022

Citation: Shen T, Wang Y, Xu F, Man J, Zeng J. Propofol combined with hyperbaric oxygen improves the prognosis of spinal cord injury in rats via MAPK/ERK signaling pathway. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(4):749-754 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i4.10

© 2022 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To determine the effect of propofol combined with hyperbaric oxygen on spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats.

Methods: A total of 36 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham group (S group), model group (M group), and propofol combined with hyperbaric oxygen group (P group). The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) scoring system was adopted to evaluate the recovery of motor function in rats. Subsequently, levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18) and IL-1β in the spinal cord tissues were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Nerve cell apoptosis in the spinal cord tissues were examined via terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Finally, the protein expression levels of MAPK/ERK in the spinal cord tissues were assessed by Western blotting.

Results: Compared with S group, BBB score in M group decreased at days 3 and 10 after treatment. While the BBB score of rats in P group was significantly increased (p < 0.05), compared with S group. The expressions of IL-18 and IL-1β were significantly lower in S and P groups than in M group (p < 0.05). S and P groups had lower apoptosis rate in the spinal cord tissues than in M group. Furthermore, Western blotting results showed that protein expressions of MAPK/ERK pathway were higher in S group and P group than in M group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Propofol, combined with hyperbaric oxygen improves the prognosis of SCI rats probably by regulating MAPK/ERK signaling pathway, thus paving way for the development of a potential treatment for the management of spinal cord injury in humans.

Keywords: Propofol, MAPK/ERK signaling pathway, Hyperbaric oxygen, Spinal cord injury