Effect of Intravenous Injection of Erythropoietin on the Peroxidation Metabolites in Patients with Acute Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Objective: Acute spinal cord injury (ASCI) is among the most common and important disorders in the field of neurosurgery and causes sensory, motor, urinary tract impairment or combination of them. Many pharmacological agents, like Erythropoietin, are used to reduce secondary damage after the primary insult and try to preserve nerve tissue. Materials and Methods: In the present clinical trial, 60 patients with ASCI in the Frankel classification, the category A to C, and the selection of matched Frankel class into two groups A and B (each group consisted of 30 patients) were participated. Group A underwent the conventional treatment received methylprednisolone and erythropoietin. In the first day of hospitalization and 4 day after admission the amount of Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) evaluated and compared to group B(that received conventional treatment such as methylprednisolone). Results: In the first day of hospitalization the average amount of MDA was 5.37 nmol/ml in the case group and 4.76 nmol/ml in the control. Four days after admission average MDA decreased to 3.83 nmol/ml in case group and 3.98nmol/ml in the control. TAC in the first day of hospitalization was 1.37 nmol/ml in the case group and 1.25 nmol/ml in the control group. In day 4 after admission the average TAC in case group decreased to 1.08 nmol/ml and 1.14 nmol/ml in the control. Conclusion: There is a significant correlation between the reduction of oxidation metabolites in the case and control group. This indicates that Erythropoietin and pro-inflammatory cytokines by reducing metabolites and inflammation can consequently reduce spinal cord injury.