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Protective effects of Vitamin C against spinal cord injury-induced renal damage through suppression of NF-κB and proinflammatory cytokines

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Abstract

Spinal cord injury [SCI] leads to complex cellular and molecular interactions which affects various organ systems. The present study focused on determining the protection offered by Vitamin C against spinal injury-induced kidney damage in wistar rats. The experimental protocol was performed with three groups; Sham, SCI and Vitamin C [20 mg/kg/bw] followed by SCI. The kidney tissue was investigated for oxidative stress parameters [reactive oxygen species, protein carbonyl, sulphydryl content, thiobarbituric acid reactive species [TBARS], and myeloperoxidase activity] and antioxidant status [glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase activity]. Further, inflammation studies were performed by analyzing expression of NF-κB, cycloxygenase-2, iNOS through western blot analysis and inflammatory cytokines by TNF-α and IL-1β levels. The present study shows clear evidence that Vitamin C treatment abrogated spinal injury-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory responses and enhanced the antioxidant status. Thus, the protection offered by Vitamin C against spinal cord injury-induced kidney damage is attributed to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, 250031, China

    Wei-Guo Wang, Yuan Feng, Xue-Cheng Cao & Ping-Shan Wang

  2. Department of Orthopedics, Shandong Traditional Chinese Medicine University, Jinan, China

    Wei-Guo Wang

  3. Department of Health Care, General Hospital of Jinan Military Command, Jinan, 250031, China

    Rui-Juan Xiu

  4. Department of Orthopedics, The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Traditional Chinese Medicine University, Jinan, 250014, China

    Zhan-Wang Xu

  5. Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Traditional Chinese Medicine University, Jinan, 250014, China

    Yan-Xia Yin

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  1. Wei-Guo Wang
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  2. Rui-Juan Xiu
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  4. Yan-Xia Yin
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  5. Yuan Feng
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  7. Ping-Shan Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhan-Wang Xu.

Additional information

W.-G. Wang and R.-J. Xiu contributed equally to this work.

W.-G. Wang is a stage doctoral student of TCM.

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Wang, WG., Xiu, RJ., Xu, ZW. et al. Protective effects of Vitamin C against spinal cord injury-induced renal damage through suppression of NF-κB and proinflammatory cytokines. Neurol Sci 36, 521–526 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-014-1965-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-014-1965-4

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