Objective: To investigate the effects of citicoline on experimental spinal cord injury (SCI).
Background: Citicoline has been successfully used in clinical studies of head injury and cerebral infarction, but there is limited literature regarding its use in experimental SCI.
Study design: Twenty adult Wistar rats were divided into four groups: sham, trauma, vehicle, and citicoline-treated. SCI was produced using a weight drop technique. Citicoline 300 mg/kg was given intraperitoneally, 5 minutes after the induction of trauma. The animals were sacrificed and 1 cm long samples of injured spinal cord were obtained at 48 hours post-SCI. Lipid peroxidation was estimated by the thiobarbituric acid test. Neurological examinations were performed using a previously described grading scale.
Results: Measures of lipid peroxidation and motor scores of the citicoline-treated group were significantly lower than those in the other injury groups.
Conclusions: Citicoline attenuated lipid peroxidation after SCI and improved the motor scores. Further investigations will be required to determine the long-term effects of this drug on spinal cord injury.