Arachidonic acid pathway alterations in cerebrospinal fluid of dogs with naturally occurring spinal cord injury.

Background: Canine intervertebral disc πherniation causes a naturally-occurring spinal cord injury (SCI) that bears critical similarities to human SCI with respect to both injury pathomechanisms and treatment. As such, it has tremendous potential to enhance our understanding of injury biology and the preclinical evaluation of novel therapies. Currently, there is limited understanding of the role of arachidonic acid metabolites in canine SCI.

Results: The CSF concentrations of PLA2 and PGE2 were higher in SCI dogs compared to control dogs (p = 0.0370 and 0.0273, respectively), but CSF LCT4 concentration in SCI dogs was significantly lower than that in control dogs (p < 0.0001). Prostaglandin E2 concentration in the CSF was significantly and positively associated with increased severity of SCI at the time of sampling (p = 0.041) and recovery 42 days post-injury (p = 0.006), as measured by ordinal behavioral scores.

Conclusion: Arachidonic acid metabolism is altered in dogs with SCI, and these data suggest that these AA metabolites reflect injury severity and recovery, paralleling data from other model systems.