Objective: To study the role of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ASODN) of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) on the apoptosis and p-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38 MAPK) signal transduction of the neurons after spinal cord injury (SCI).
Methods: Antisense and non-sense oligodeoxynucleotides of iNOS were designed and synthesized, and injected into the subarachnoid space 12 h before the compressive injury was given to the rat spinal cord. Reverse transcription-PCR and flow-cytometry were used to examine the iNOS mRNA expression and the apoptosis of the neurons within the injured spinal cord. The changes of p-p38 MAPK signal transduction pathway were detected by Western blotting.
Results: Obvious increase in iNOS expression and up-regulated p-p38 MAPK were detected after SCI, and neuronal apoptosis was observed in the injured spinal cord. ASODN-iNOS treatment resulted in decreased expression levels of iNOS mRNA and p-p38 MAPK, and the neuronal apoptosis was alleviated.
Conclusion: ASODN-iNOS inhibits iNOS expression and neuronal apoptosis following SCI which may be related to the p-p38 MAPK signal transduction pathway.