Protective effect of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) against spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury. - GreenMedInfo Summary

As previous studies demonstrate that oxidative stress and apoptosis play crucial roles in ischemic pathogenesis and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) treatment attenuates oxidative stress-induced cell death among primary neurons and astrocytes as well as significantly reduce cerebral ischemic injury in rats. We used a spinal cord ischemia injury (SCII) model in rats to verify our hypothesis that NADcould ameliorate oxidative stress-induced neuronal apoptosis. Adult male rats were subjected to transient spinal cord ischemia for 60min, and different doses of NADwere administered intraperitoneally immediately after the start of reperfusion. Neurological function was determined by Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan (BBB) scores. The oxidative stress level was assessed by superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. The degree of apoptosis was analyzed by deoxyuridinetriphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining and protein levels of cleaved caspase-3 and AIF (apoptosis inducing factor). The results showed that NADat 50 or 100mg/kg significantly decreased the oxidative stress level and neuronal apoptosis in the spinal cord of ischemia-reperfusion rats compared with saline, as accompanied with the decreased oxidative stress, NADadministration significantly restrained the neuronal apoptosis after ischemia injury while improved the neurological and motor function. These findings suggested that NADmight protect against spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion via reducing oxidative stress-induced neuronal apoptosis.