Systemic hypothermia following compression injury of rat spinal cord: reduction of plasma protein extravasation demonstrated by immunohistochemistry
Wen Ru Yu, Hans Westergren, Mohammad Farooque, Anders Holtz, Yngve Olsson
Acta Neuropathol, 1999
Fifteen rats were assigned to one of three groups and received either thoracic (T) laminectomy or severe spinal cord compression trauma. One group comprised laminectomized animals without compression trauma submitted to a hypothermic procedure. The two trauma groups were either submitted to the same hypothermic procedure or kept normothermic during the corresponding time.By measuring the cross-sectional area of the peri-injury zones we found in the hypothermic trauma group a significant reduction of the expansion compared with that present in normothermic injured rats. This indicates that hypothermia reduces the extravasation of the plasma proteins albumin, fibrinogen and fibronectin following spinal cord compression in the rat.