| Abstract: | Purpose: To investigate the effects and mechanism of pollen typhae on spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. Methods: The SCI model was built and animals were randomly divided into three groups according to different concentrations of pollen typhae. Protein, mRNA, and fluorescence expression levels of light-chain-3 (LC-3) and Beclin-1 were determined by western blotting (WB), real-time PCR and immunofluorescence, along as Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin (mROT) by WB. The demyelination area and integrated optical density (IOD) were analyzed by luxol fast blue (LFB) and Nissl staining, respectively; Behavioral assessments were assessed by Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) scale. Results: Protein, mRNA, and fluorescence expression levels of LC-3 and Beclin-1 were significantly increased after SCI, while were obviously decreased by administration of pollen typhae, along with protein level of Akt and mROT. The demyelination area was significantly reduced, while IOD and BBB were significantly increased compared with the model group. Conclusion: Autophagic activity increased in damaged neural tissue after SCI, and pollen typhae have certain therapeutic effect on SCI, the higher concentration of pollen typhae, the more effective. Besides, pollen typhae also provided neuroprotective effect and improved locomotor function. The effects may be produced by blockade of Akt/mTOR pathway. |
