Early protective effects of Iloprost after experimental spinal cord injury

This investigation was undertaken to study the early protective effects of Iloprost, a stable analogue of prostacyclin, after spinal cord injury in rabbit. Sixteen adult male rabbits (New Zealand Albino) were injured by application of epidural aneurysm clip. Eight rabbits received an intravenous (i.v.) infusion of 30 mu g kg(-1) iloprost, and eight rabbits received an infusion of saline (SF). Treatment with iloprost started immediately after spinal cord injury and continued for one hour. Evoked potentials were recorded for each rabbit at one, 15, and 60 minutes after the spinal cord injury. Twenty-four hours later, all the rabbits were deeply anesthetized and spinal cords were removed for histopathological examinations. There was no meaningful statistical difference between cortical somatosensorial evoked potentials (CSEP) of the saline and iloprost group. However, light and electron microscopic studies showed that the iloprost treated group had moderate protection of myelin and axons; and limited edema. These results suggest that intravenous iloprost treatment after spinal cord injury has a highly protective effect without any side effects.