Comparison of Etanercept, Etomidate and Erythropoietin and Their Combinations in Experimentally-Induced Spinal Cord Injury

AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the preventive effects of Etanercept, Etomidate, Erythropoietin and their combination in experimentally induced spinal cord trauma by clinical, histopathological, electrophysiological parameters and biochemical examination. MATERIAL and METHODS: 85 healthy female Wistar-Albino rats were used in this study. Rats were divided 8 trauma groups that consisted of 10 rats for each, and 5 rats for the sham group. Laminectomy was performed under general anesthesia and the spinal cord was exposed with intact dura mater, and injury was created by the clip compression model. After the spinal cord injury, drugs were administered immediately intraperitoneally or subcutaneously. Except the sham group, all groups received drugs and were observed 24 or 72 hours. At the 72nd hour each group was anesthesized and somatosensorial evoked potentials (SEP) were recorded from the interarcuate ligament from the 2 vertebra proximal to the injured spinal cord and spinal cord tissue samples were taken for histopathological and biochemical evaluation. RESULTS: Etomidate groups showed a lower effect on spinal cord injury than etanercept and erythropoietin in terms of clinical, SEP and TNF-alpha. Etanercept and erythropoietin's neuroprotective effectiveness was shown alone or in combination treatments. More meaningful results were achieved with the use of erythropoietin and etanercept combination after spinal cord injury (SCI) than using erythropoietin alone. After SCI, highest Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scores were achieved in the group which Etanercept and Erythropoietin applied together. CONCLUSION: The neuroprotective activity of etomidate was suspect. The neuroprotective effect of etanercept and erythropoietin after SCI was shown in individual and combined applications in this study. However, more experimental studies are needed for clinical use.