Background: Oxidative stress is a crucial factor contributing to the occurrence and development of secondary damage in spinal cord injuries (SCI), ultimately impacting the recovery process. α-lipoic acid (ALA) exhibits potent antioxidant properties, effectively reducing secondary damage and providing neuroprotective benefits. However, the precise mechanism by which ALA plays its antioxidant role remains unknown.
Methods: We established a model of moderate spinal cord contusion in rats. Experimental rats were randomly divided into 3 distinct groups: the sham group, the model control group (SCI_Veh), and the ALA treatment group (SCI_ALA). The sham group rats were exposed only to the SC without contusion injury. Rats belonging to SCI_Veh group were not administered any treatment after SCI. Rats of SCI_ALA group were intraperitoneally injected with the corresponding volume of ALA according to body weight for three consecutive days after the surgery. Subsequently, three days after SCI, spinal cord samples were obtained from three groups of rats: the sham group, model control group, and administration group. Thereafter, total RNA was extracted from the samples and the expression of three sets of differential genes was analyzed by transcriptome sequencing technology. Real-time PCR was used to verify the sequencing results. The impact of ALA on oxidative stress in rats following SCI was assessed by measuring their total antioxidant capacity and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content. The effects of ALA on rat recovery following SCI was investigated through Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) score and footprint analysis.
Results: The findings from the transcriptome sequencing analysis revealed that the model control group had 2975 genes with altered expression levels when compared to the ALA treatment group. Among these genes, 1583 were found to be upregulated while 1392 were down-regulated. Gene ontology (GO) displayed significant enrichment in terms of functionality, specifically in oxidative phosphorylation, oxidoreductase activity, and signaling receptor activity. The Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway was enriched in oxidative phosphorylation, glutathione metabolism and cell cycle. ALA was found to have multiple benefits for rats after SCI, including increasing their antioxidant capacity and reducing H2O2 levels. Additionally, it was effective in improving motor function (such as 7 days after SCI, the BBB score for SCI_ALA was 8.400 ± 0.937 compared to 7.050 ± 1.141 for SCI_Veh) and promoting histological recovery after SCI (The results of HE demonstrated that the percentage of damage area in was 44.002 ± 6.680 in the SCI_ALA and 57.215 ± 3.964 in the SCI_Veh at the center of injury.). The sequence data from this study has been deposited into Sequence Read Archive (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE242507).
Conclusion: Overall, the findings of this study confirmed the beneficial effects of ALA on recovery in SCI rats through transcriptome sequencing, behavioral, as well histology analyses.
Keywords: Oxidative stress; Spinal cord injury; Transcriptomics; α-lipoic acid.