Review Of The Pathogenesis And Treatment Of Acute Spinal Cord Injury And Investigation Into The Use Of Urine 3-Hpma As A Novel Biomarker Of Secondary Injury After Acute Spinal Cord Injury In The Dog

Sangster, Andrea DVM, MS, Purdue University, December 2014. Review of the pathophysiology of acute spinal cord injury and investigation into the use of urine 3HPMA as a novel biomarker of secondary injury after naturally occurring acute spinal cord injury in the dog. Major Professors: Robin T. Bentley and Riyi Shi. Acute spinal cord injury (ASCI) has two pathophysiological stages of injury: the primary injury and the secondary injury cascade. Primary injury includes the initial or mechanical insult to the spinal cord. Secondary injury is a cascade of biochemical events that propagates damage of adjacent, healthy tissue increasing the overall volume of spinal cord tissue that is affected. Acrolein is a toxic byproduct of lipid peroxidation produced during secondary injury. A metabolite of acrolein-glutathione adduct found in urine, 3HPMA, has recently been shown to increase after spinal cord injury in a rat model. The aim of our study was to apply this urine 3-HPMA assay to dogs to indirectly quantify acrolein levels resulting from ASCI due to intervertebral disc herniation (IVDH). Urine was collected from ten client-owned dogs with ASCI upon presentation to PUVTH and analyzed for the acrolein metabolite, 3-HPMA per gram of creatinine. These concentrations were compared with urinary 3-HPMA levels from 10 healthy, control dogs. Mean urine 3-HPMA of ASCI dogs with IVDH (8.52 μmol 3-HPMA/g Cre) was significantly higher than the mean from control dogs (3.28 μmol 3-HPMA/g Cre). Therefore, urine 3-HPMA is higher in dogs after ASCI due to IVDH therefore supporting an important role of lipid peroxidation in canine ASCI. This study supports the use of