Riluzole is effective on spinal decompression for treating acute spinal injury when compared with methylprednisolone and the combination of two drugs: In vivo rat model

Abstract

Study Design Randomized controlled animal experiment. Objectives To determine and compare the efficacy of riluzole, MPS and the combination of two drugs in a rat model with acute spinal trauma, electrophysiologically and histopathologically. Methods 59 rats were divided into 4 groups as control, riluzole (6 mg/kg, every 12 hours for 7 days), MPS (30 mg/kg, 2nd and 4th hours after injury) and riluzole + MPS. Spinal trauma was created and the subjects were followed for 7 days. Electrophysiological recordings were made via neuromonitoring. The subjects were sacrificed and histopathological examination was made. Results For the amplitude values, mean alteration in the period from the spinal cord injury to the end of the 7th day is 15.89 +/- 20.00%, 210.93 +/- 199.44%, 24.75% +/- 10.13% increase and 18.91 +/- 30.01% decrease for the control, riluzole, riluzole + MPS and MPS groups, respectively. Although the riluzole treatment group produced the greatest increase in amplitude, it was observed that no treatment provided a significant improvement compared to the control group, in terms of latency and amplitude. It was observed that there was significantly less cavitation area in the riluzole treatment group compared to the control group (P = .020). (P < .05). Conclusions Electrophysiologically, no treatment was found to provide significant improvement. Histopathologically, it was observed that riluzole provided significant neural tissue protection.