Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate reduced spinal cord trauma in rats

Recent studies have demonstrated that NF-kappaB and oxidative stress contributes to secondary injury after impacted injury to the rat spinal cord. We postulated that pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), antioxidant which is potent inhibitor of NF-kappaB, would attenuate NF-kappaB-related inflammatory and oxidative events which occur after spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury was induced by the application of vascular clips (force of 50 g) to the dura via a four-level T5-T8 laminectomy. Here we have investigated the effects of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (30mg/kg, 30 min before spinal cord injury and 6h after SCI) on the levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity; on the levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA) in the damaged tissue. Western blot analysis was performed to assess the cytoplasmic levels of IkappaB-alpha. PDTC exerted potent anti-inflammatory effects with significant reduction of (A) polymorphonuclear cell infiltration, (B) lipid peroxidation, and furthermore it significantly prevented the activation of NFkappaB (EMSA and immunoblots).