saturated picric acid prevents autophagia

the dysesthesia and paresthesia that occurs in laboratory rats after spinal cord injury (sci) results in autophagia. this self-destructive behavior interferes with functional assessments in designed studies and jeopardizes the health of the injured rat. in this study, we evaluated role of saturated picric acid in the prevention of autophagia and self-mutilation. all rats were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of a mixture of ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) for the sci procedures. in the first 39 rats, no solution applied to the hind limbs, but in the next 26 cases, we smeared the saturated picric acid on the tail, lower extremities, pelvic, and abdomen of the rats immediately after sci. in the rats without picric acid, 23 rats died following autophagia, but in the 26 rats with picric acid, there was no autophagia (p