Objective: To explore the therapeutic effect of tacrolimus on spinal cord injury in rats and the regulation of NF-kB/JNK signaling pathway.
Method: The experimental rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 15): sham operation group, model group and tacrolimus treatment group. An animal model of spinal cord injury was established using the Allen method. After modeling, the rats were treated with tacrolimus (0.3 mg/kg) for 21 days. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) spinal cord injury behavior score test was performed on days 0, 1, 7, 14 and 21, respectively. HE staining is used to observe the spinal cord injury of experimental rats and determine the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the spinal cord tissue. RT-PCR was used to determine the expression of IL-4 mRNA and TGF-βmRNA in the spinal cord tissue, and the Western blot method was used to determine the NF-kB/ in the spinal cord tissue. Results: Tachlorimus significantly improved the BBB score of rats with spinal cord injury (P\u003c0.05), increased the activity of SOD, CAT, GPX enzymes, and decreased the content of MDA (P\u003c0.05), which can reduce the spinal cord Neuronal abnormalities. Apoptosis, IL-4 mRNA, TGF-β mRNA expression and the ratio of NF-kBp-p65/NF-kBp-p65 and p-JNK/JNK protein expression decreased in spinal cord tissue (P\u003c0.05).
Conclusion: Tacrolimus can significantly improve spinal cord injury. This can be accomplished by antioxidants, anti-inflammatory responses, anti-apoptosis of spinal cord neurons, and inhibition of activation of the NF-kB/JNK signaling pathway.