Combination of fasudil and celecoxib promotes the recovery of injured spinal cord in rats better than celecoxib or fasudil alone

• Published in: Neural regeneration research 2015-11, Vol.10 (11), p.1836-1840
• Main Authors: Hou, Xiao-Lin, Chen, Yan, Yin, Hua, Duan, Wei-Gang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Celecoxib; Cell adhesion & migration; Combination drug therapy; COX-2抑制剂; Dosage and administration; Drug therapy; Enzyme inhibitors; Gene expression; Growth factors; Kinases; Methods; nerve regeneration; Rho kinase; fasudil; cyclooxygenase-2; celecoxib; spinal cord injury; NSFC grant; neural regeneration; Nervous system; Neural networks; Patient outcomes; Proteins; Spinal cord injuries; Statistical analysis; Surgery; 塞来昔布; 大鼠; 环氧合酶-2; 神经系统疾病; 耐药机制; 脊髓损伤; 酶抑制剂
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.170314

Resistance mechanisms of rho-associated kinase（ROCK） inhibitors are associated with the enhanced expression of cyclooxygenase-2（COX-2）. The therapeutic effects of ROCK on nervous system diseases might be enhanced by COX-2 inhibitors. This study investigated the synergistic effect of the combined use of the ROCK inhibitor fasudil and a COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib on spinal cord injury in a rat model established by transecting the right half of the spinal cord at T11. Rat models were orally administrated with celecoxib（20 mg/kg） and/or intramuscularly with fasudil（10 mg/kg） for 2 weeks. Results demonstrated that the combined use of celecoxib and fasudil significantly decreased COX-2 and Rho kinase II expression surrounding the lesion site in rats with spinal cord injury, improved the pathomorphology of the injured spinal cord, and promoted the recovery of motor function. Moreover, the effects of the drug combination were better than celecoxib or fasudil alone. This study demonstrated that the combined use of fasudil and celecoxib synergistically enhanced the functional recovery of injured spinal cord in rats.