Pharmacological Induction of Beta Common Receptor Amplifies Erythropoietin Attenuation of Spinal Cord Injury

Introduction: Paraplegia remains the most feared complication of thoracoabdominal aorticintervention. While erythropoietin (EPO) has demonstrated neuroprotective effects in spinal cord ischemia, EPO does not work until the Beta Common Receptor (bcR) is induced by ischemia. We hypothesized that BCR could be pharmacologically with Diazoxide (DZ) induced prior to ischemia with amplification of the neuroprotective effects from spinal cord ischemia. Methods: For DZ time trial, adult male C57/BL6 received DZ (40 mg/kg) by oral gavage. After 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours of administration, spinal cords were harvested. For optimal dosing, DZ (0, 5, 10, 20, 40 mg/kg) was administered. The expression of bcR was assesed by western blot analysis. Four groups were studied: PBS (pretreatment)+PBS (immediately before), PBS+EPO, DZ+PBS, and DZ+EPO. Spinal cord ischemia was induced by 4-minutes thoracic aortic cross-clamp. Functional scoring (Basso Mouse Score) was done 12-hour intervals. Results: Optimal bcR upregulation oc...