| Objective: To investigate the effects of salvia miltiorrhiza on apoptosis and expression of iNOS after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. Methods: Impact injury of spinal cord(T9~T10 )was induced by Allen's weight-drop(25g-cm force ) technique. Adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided at random into three groups: group A (using salvia miltiorrhiza after spinal cord injury), group B (using normal saline after spinal cord injury) and group C (normal group) . Functional status was assessed by the combined behavioral score (CBS) at 1, 2 and 4 weeks after operation respectively. The rats were sacrificed at 8hours and 1, 3, 7, 14, 28days after surgery, then the neuronal and glial cell apoptosis in injured spinal cord tissue were examined by hematoxylin-eosin(HE) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) methods , and the activity of iNOS was detected using immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis in cytoplasm of spinal cord tissue. Results: Little histopathologic changes and almost no iNOS expression and apoptotic cells were detected in spinal cord tissue of group C only receiving laminectomy. The histopathologic changes in spinal cord tissue observed with HE staining microscopic examination in group B was worse than that in group A. Expressions of apoptotic cells and iNOS were observed in two groups, and the apoptotic index and expression of iNOS on group B is higher than that in group A (P<0.01),moreover, CBS increased markedly in the group treated with salvia miltiorrhiza(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that salvia miltiorrhiza could inhibit apoptosis and expression of iNOS after spinal cord injury in rats.
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