Acta Vet. Brno 2009, 78: 307-311
Preconditioning as a Possible Protective Mechanism in the Spinal Cord Ischemia
The present study deals with the problem of spinal cord protection. The aim of this study was to simulate conditions during surgery on aortic aneurysm and to consider their possible utilisation in clinical practice. Wistar albino rats of both sexes were used in the experiment. Surgery was performed on the thoracic part of aorta. The closure of aorta in duration of 12 min caused a neurological deficit in 81% of rats, 14 min of ischemia paralysed 90% of animals. Preconditioning with 3-min ischemia following 30 min recirculation improved the neurological score in the group with 12 min of ischemia after 48 h, in which only 27% of rats were paralysed. The same preconditioning was performed in the group of animals with 14 min of ischemia, and as a consequence, 33% of rats were paralysed in that group. Protection of the spinal cord during ischemia can be achieved by preconditioning. Thus the method of preconditioning appears to be a prospective technique for the improvement of the devastating neurological deficit after surgery on the aorta and has provided optimism that additional therapies will be possible in the future.
