%0 Journal Article
%T Acute Effect of Ghrelin on Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in the Rat Spinal Cord
%A Qin Zhang
%A Chen Huang
%A Bin Meng
%A Tiansi Tang
%A Qin Shi
%A Huilin Yang
%J International Journal of Molecular Sciences
%D 2012
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/ijms13089864
%X Ghrelin, a 28-amino acid peptide, is mainly secreted by the stomach. Ghrelin has been shown to have neuroprotective effects. However, whether ghrelin protects the spinal cord from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is unknown. To investigate this, 60 rats were randomly divided into three different groups: the sham group ( n = 20), the vehicle group ( n = 20), and the Ghrelin group (100 ¦Ìg/kg, n = 20). Rats were sacrificed 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after ischemia. After the evaluation of neurologic function (48 h), the spinal cords were immediately removed for the determination of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity (12¨C72 h). Apoptosis was quantitatively measured using the terminal transferase UTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method (24 h). The expression of bax and bcl-2 were evaluated by Western blot analysis (1 h), and GHSR-1a mRNA expression was detected using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (24 h). The neurological motor function was evaluated by ¡®Tarlov¡¯s score¡¯. The neurologic outcomes in the ghrelin-group were significantly better than those in the vehicle group ( p < 0.05). Serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF-¦Á) levels were assessed in the peripheral venous blood. Ghrelin decreased the serum TNF-¦Á levels and ameliorated the down regulation of spinal cord MPO activity. The expression of ghrelin receptors (GHSR-1a) in the rat spinal cord was decreased by I/R injury and increased by ghrelin. Ghrelin reduced the TUNEL-positive rate. Greater bcl-2, HSP27, HSP70, and attenuated bax expression were observed in the ghrelin-treated rats. Our results suggest that ghrelin administration may inhibit spinal I/R injury. Moreover, the improvement of neurologic function in rats was increased after the ghrelin treatment.
%K ischemia/reperfusion injury
%K spinal cord
%K ghrelin
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/13/8/9864