Preclinical Screening of a Potential Drug Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Peter Cheng-te Chou¹, Mehmet Levend Gunsoy¹, Mohamed Mokhtar Desouki¹, Shunmugavel Anandakumar¹, Musfiquddin Khan¹, Hanaa El Sayed¹, Shaun Nguyen¹, Inderjit Singh¹, Mehmet Bilgen¹

Potential new therapies for treating spinal cord injury (SCI) are currently being developed and tested in animal models. The modulator of cellular redox, S-nitrosoglutathione (also known as GSNO) has shown to prevent endothelial dysfunction, facilitate neuroprotection and repair, and promote locomotor function during recovery following neuronal injury. Evaluating the efficacy of a pharmacological treatment, such as GSNO, depends on accurately quantifying drug-induced improvements in neuropathological state of injured spinal cord (SC). In this study, we use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluating the efficacy of GSNO in SCI in a rat model.