Early protective effects of iloprost after experimental spinal cord ischemia in rabbits

The potential role of Iloprost, a stable analogue of prostocyclin, in treat ing spinal cord ischemia was investigated in rabbits subjected to aortic oc clusion for 15 minutes. Ten adult rabbits weighing 2-2.5 kg received an int ravenous infusion of saline (SF) as a control group and 14 rabbits received an intravenous infusion of Iloprost, 25 mug/kg/h. Iloprost infusion was st arted immediately after clamping of the aorta and continued 60 minutes ther eafter. Cortical somatosensorial evoked potentials (CSEP) were recorded dur ing the pre-ischemic period as a baseline and post-ischemic readings were t aken at 15, 30 and 60 minutes. There was no statistically significant diffe rence between CSEP of the saline and Iloprost treated groups (p < 0.05). Al l animals were examined neurologically by using a modification of Tarlov sc ale and all subjects were then deeply anesthetized and their spinal cords w ere removed for light and electron microscopic examinations at 24 h after s pinal cord ischemia. In order to obtain an accurate comparison of ultrastru ctural changes between saline treated and Iloprost treated groups, a gradin g scale was performed. The light microscopic and ultrastructural analysis o f the Iloprost treated group revealed that there was moderate protection of the myelin and axons and edema was attenuated Findings of this study sugge st that Iloprost exerts a protective effect on spinal cord ischemia. Howeve r, Further studies are needed to reveal possible mechanisms of protection p rovided by Iloprost.