Riluzole improves measures of oxidative stress following traumatic spinal cord injury.

Rats received a contusion injury to the spinal cord followed by treatment with riluzole (a glutamate release inhibitor, 8 mg/kg), methylprednisolone (MP 30 mg/kg) or both. At 4 h following injury, spinal cords were removed and synaptosomes prepared and examined using five measures of oxidative stress. Riluzole treatment was found to improve mitochondrial function, and enhance glutamate and glucose uptake. As expected, MP treatment was found to reduce lipid peroxidation, but also improved glutamate and glucose uptake. Interestingly, the combination treatment was found to be effective in improving all five measures of oxidative stress. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the potential beneficial effects of a combination approach in the treatment of oxidative stress events in traumatic spinal cord injury.