Protective Effect Of Vitamin-c Intravenous Infusion On Ischemia-reperfusion Injury Of Spinal Cord

0bjective To investigate the protection of vitamin-C Intravenous infusion on ischemia-reperfusion(I-R)injury of spinal cord in rabbits. Methods 30 rabbits were divided randomly into three groups,the group A(sham operated,no I-R injury),the group B (control group,only with I-R injury),the group C(I-R injury+vitamin-C intravenous infusion). Spinal cord- ischemia was induced by clamping the abdominal aorta below the left renal artery for 40 minutes. The group C was injected vitamin-C (0.5g/kg) before clamping the abdominal aorta for 15 minutes. The concentration of malonyldialdehyed(MDA)and activities of SOD in serum were measured at pre-ischemia,reperfusion 2h,reperfusion 4h,reperfusion 8h,reperfusion 16h. The spinal cord function was assessed 24,48 and 96 hours after aortic declamping according to Tarlov's Scale.Spinal cords were harvested for histological analysis. Results There were significant differences in the concentration of MDA and SOD among three groups.The neurological status in the groups C was significantly superior to that of the group B(P<O.05).In the group B,all animals were paraplegic with Tarlov's Scale of 0 or 1.Three of 10 animals in the group C were paraplegic with Tarlov's Scale of 0 or 1.Compared to the group B,there were more normal neurons in the anterior horn of spinal cords in the groups C (P < O.05). Conclusion Intravenous infusion of vitamin-C can protect spinal cord against ischemia.