Context: Both copper and betanin have been implicated as having significant bioactivity against ischemic damage in a variety of experimental and clinical settings. The aim of this study is to investigate whether betanin and copper have any protective effect on spinal cord in an ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) model in rats.

Design: Spraque-Dawley rats were used in four groups: Sham group (n = 7), control group (laparotomy and cross-clamping of aorta, n = 7), betanin treatment group (dosage of 100 mg/kg of betanin administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) 60 min before laparotomy, n = 7), copper sulfate treatment group (administered copper sulfate i.p. at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg/day for 7 days before laparotomy, n = 7). Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) levels, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were measured. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) assay was also performed to evaluate apoptosis.

Setting: Kafkas University, Faculty of Medicine, Kars, Turkey.

Results: I/R injury was successfully demonstrated with the surgical model. Betanin and copper treatment significantly decreased MDA levels, MPO activity and the number of apoptotic cells in the spinal cord. Betanin and copper treatment significantly increased GSH levels. Copper treatment significantly increased SOD activity, whereas betanin was not as effective. Apoptotic cells were significantly decreased in both treatment groups.

Conclusion: I/R injury of the spinal cord can be successfully demonstrated by aortic clamping in this surgical model. Betanin/Copper sulphate has ameliorative effects against operative I/R injury. Low toxicity of those agents makes them ideal targets for clinical research for this purpose.

背景：在各种实验和临床环境中，铜和甜菜碱都被认为对缺血性损伤具有显着的生物活性。本研究的目的是在大鼠缺血再灌注 (I/R) 模型中研究甜菜碱和铜是否对脊髓有任何保护作用。

设计： Spraque-Dawley 大鼠分为四组：Sham 组（n  = 7）、对照组（剖腹术和主动脉交叉夹闭，n  = 7）、甜菜碱治疗组（100 mg/kg 甜菜碱腹腔给药剂量） (ip) 开腹前 60 分钟，n  = 7)，硫酸铜治疗组（开腹前 7 天以 0.1 mg/kg/天的剂量 ip 施用硫酸铜，n  = 7）。测量丙二醛 (MDA)、谷胱甘肽 (GSH) 水平、髓过氧化物酶 (MPO) 和超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD) 活性。还进行了末端脱氧核苷酸转移酶 (TdT) dUTP 缺口末端标记 (TUNEL) 测定以评估细胞凋亡。

地点：卡夫卡大学医学院，土耳其卡尔斯。

结果：手术模型成功证明了 I/R 损伤。甜菜碱和铜处理显着降低了脊髓中的 MDA 水平、MPO 活性和凋亡细胞的数量。甜菜碱和铜处理显着增加了谷胱甘肽水平。铜处理显着增加了 SOD 活性，而甜菜碱则没有那么有效。两个治疗组的凋亡细胞均显着减少。

结论：在该手术模型中，主动脉钳夹可以成功证明脊髓的 I/R 损伤。甜菜碱/硫酸铜对手术 I/R 损伤具有改善作用。这些药剂的低毒性使它们成为为此目的的临床研究的理想靶点。