Effects of citicoline on experimental spinal cord injury

• Published in: Journal of clinical neuroscience 2005-11, Vol.12 (8), p.923-926
• Main Authors: Cakir, Ertugrul, Usul, Haydar, Peksoylu, Bekircan, Sayin, Ozgur C, Alver, Ahmet, Topbas, Murat, Baykal, Suleyman, Kuzeyli, Kayhan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; citicoline; Cytidine Diphosphate Choline - therapeutic use; Disease Models, Animal; Lipid Peroxidation - drug effects; malondialdehyde; Malondialdehyde - analysis; Malondialdehyde - metabolism; Motor Activity - drug effects; Nootropic Agents - therapeutic use; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Recovery of Function - drug effects; Spinal Cord Injuries - drug therapy; spinal cord injury; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances - analysis; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances - metabolism
• ISSN: 0967-5868; 1532-2653
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2005.03.013

To investigate the effects of citicoline on experimental spinal cord injury (SCI). Citicoline has been successfully used in clinical studies of head injury and cerebral infarction, but there is limited literature regarding its use in experimental SCI. Twenty adult Wistar rats were divided into four groups: sham, trauma, vehicle, and citicoline-treated. SCI was produced using a weight drop technique. Citicoline 300 mg/kg was given intraperitoneally, 5 minutes after the induction of trauma. The animals were sacrificed and 1 cm long samples of injured spinal cord were obtained at 48 hours post-SCI. Lipid peroxidation was estimated by the thiobarbituric acid test. Neurological examinations were performed using a previously described grading scale. Measures of lipid peroxidation and motor scores of the citicoline-treated group were significantly lower than those in the other injury groups. Citicoline attenuated lipid peroxidation after SCI and improved the motor scores. Further investigations will be required to determine the long-term effects of this drug on spinal cord injury.