A selective phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor reduces leukocyte infiltration, oxidative processes, and tissue damage after spinal cord injury.

We tested the hypothesis that a selective phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitor (PDE4-I; IC486051) would attenuate early inflammatory and oxidative processes following spinal cord injury (SCI) when delivered during the first 3 days after injury. Rats receiving a moderately severe thoracic-clip-compression SCI were treated with the PDE4-I (0.5, 1.