Spinal cord injury effectively ameliorated by neuroprotective effects of rosmarinic acid

Abstract

Objective: Pathophysiology of spinal cord injury (SCI) causes primary and secondary effects leading to loss of neuronal function. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of rosmarinic acid (RA) in protection against SCI.

Methods: The experimental study was carried out in male wistar rats categorized into three groups. Group I – sham operated rats; Group II – SCI; Group III – SCI followed by RA treatment (10 mg/kg). The spinal tissues after treatment schedule were analyzed for oxidative stress status through determination of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, protein damage (carbonyl and sulfhydryl contents), and antioxidant enzyme activities. The expression of oxidative stress factors NF-κB and Nrf-2 was determined by Western blot analysis. Further pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1, and IL-1β) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: The results show that treatment with RA significantly enhances the antioxidant status and decrease the oxidative stress in wistar rats post-SCI. RA effectively ameliorated inflammatory mechanisms by downregulation of NF-κB and pro-inflammatory cytokines post-SCI.

Conclusion: The study demonstrates for the first time on the role of RA in protecting the spinal cord from injury and demonstrates its neuroprotection in wistar rats.

Keywords:

• Inflammation
• Oxidative stress
• NF-κB
• Nrf-2
• Rosmarinic acid
• Spinal cord injury
• Cytokines
• Neuroprotection

Disclaimer statements

Contributors A.S. and D.-B.Z. – Concept and design; D.-B.Z. – Final proof; A.J.S., Y.Y., H.-Y.W. – Performed the experiments; B.-Z.T., J.W., Z.-F.W. – Data analysis; and A.-J.S. and Y.Y. – Writing.

Funding This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (nos. 81071055), the Open Project of the Medical Neurobiology of State Key Laboratory (no. SKLMN2014001), and the Military Medicine and Public Health Research Project (no. 10BJZ04), China.

Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval All the protocols were approved by Institutional animals ethics committee at General Hospital of Chinese PLA, Beijing 100853, China.