Abstract
Various pharmacologic agents have been reported to be effective in the treatment of acute experimental spinal cord injury. Their mechanism(s) of action is problematic. However, based on the pathophysiology of acute spinal cord injury, it is suggested that compounds with substantial antioxidant and/or antilipolytic activity should have significant therapeutic potential for spinal cord injury. Other agents, like naloxone and TRH, may also protect a subpopulation of neurons by preventing the specific consequences of postinjury opioid elevation in spinal cord tissue. Alternatively, the megadoses required for effectiveness of all of these compounds (except U-74006F) may indicate a nonreceptor-mediated protection of damaged tissue. It is unlikely that any one drug will provide maximum protection. Rather, a combination of compounds, expeditiously administered, may be required in the clinical setting to ameloriate functional return in spinal cord injured patients.
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Anderson, D.K. (1990). Pharmacological Treatment of Acute, Experimental Spinal Cord Injury. In: Salzman, S.K. (eds) Neural Monitoring. Neurotrauma. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0491-6_4
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