International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience
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Int. J. Dev. Neurosci. · Jun 2006
Comparative StudyNeuroprotective effect of etomidate on functional recovery in experimental spinal cord injury.
Primary impact to the spinal cord causes rapid oxidative stress after injury. To protect neural tissue, it is important to prevent secondary pathophysiological mechanisms. Etomidate, a strong antiexcitotoxic agent, stimulates the gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. The purpose of this study was to investigate neurobehavioral and histological recovery and to evaluate the biochemical responses to treatment of experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats with etomidate or methylprednisolone (MP) or both etomidate and MP. ⋯ Etomidate treatment immediately after spinal cord injury has similar neuroprotection to MP. In spite of different neuroprotection mechanisms, combined treatment with MP and etomidate does not provide extra protection.