Dura mater spinalis integrity may influence cytokine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid

Bai Wan-shan; Wang Xin-wei; Yuan Wen; Wang Zhan-chao; Liang Lei; Wang Hui-xue

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2013.33.016

Abstract： BACKGROUND:Pathophysiological mechanisms after spinal cord injury are very complex, so there is no compressive and in-depth understanding on it. OBJECTIVE:To study the effect of dura mater spinalis integrity on cytokine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of animal models of spinal cord injury. METHODS:The white rabbit models of spinal cord injury were established using clamp compression method, and then the models were randomly divided into four groups:no dura mater spinalis defect group, dura mater spinalis defect group, dura mater spinalis defect composite with membrane repairing group and dura mater spinalis defect composite with autologous fascia repair group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect the changes of levels of cytokines (interleukin-6, interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factorα) in the cerebrospinal fluid at 30 minutes, 1, 3, 6, 12 and 36 hours after surgery. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factorαin the cerebrospinal fluid of the dura mater spinalis defect group, dura mater spinalis defect composite with membrane repairing group and dura mater spinalis defect composite with autologous fascia repair group were significantly lower than those of the no dura mater spinalis defect group at 6 hours after surgery (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factorαat other time points between groups (P>0.05). The results indicate that maintaining the integrity of dura mater spinalis of the spinal cord injury model can affect the levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factorαin the cerebrospinal fluid, thus inhibiting the inflammatory response.