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BACKGROUND:Studies on the immunodepressant FTY720 have primarily focused on organ transplantation and autoimmune disease therapy.However,the effects on caspase-3 expression and neural apoptosis following acute spinal cord injury remain uncertain.OBJECTIVE:To elucidate the underlying mechanism of the immunodepressant FTY720 to alleviate spinal cord injury by inhibiting expression of caspase-3 and neural apoptosis.DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:A randomized,controlled,animal experiment was performed at Central Laboratory of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from April to July 2009.MATERIALS:FTY720 was provided by Wuhan Yuancheng Technology Developing,China.METHODS:A total of 120 Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to sham-surgery,model,and FTY720 groups.Spinal cord injury at the T9-10 segment was induced in model groups using the free-fall method.Following establishment of spinal cord injury at the T9-10 segment in the FTY720 group,rats were treated with an intragastric injection of 0.3 mL saline-diluted FTY720 (3 mg/kg).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:At 6,12,24,48,and 72 hours following spinal cord injury,caspase-3 expression was detected using streptavidin-peroxidase immunohistochemistry,and neural apoptosis was detected using the TUNEL method.RESULTS:Positive caspase-3 expression and neural apoptosis was not observed in the sham-surgery group at the various time points.The number of apoptotic cells increased with time after acute spinal cord injury,peaked at 24 hours following injury,and then gradually reduced.However,neural apoptosis remained at a high level.Caspase-3 expression positively correlated with neural apoptosis (r= 0.864,P< 0.05).Caspase-3 expression and neural apoptosis significantly decreased following FTY720 therapy (P< 0.05).CONCLUSION:FTY720 significantly reduced caspase-3 expression and neural apoptosis in a rat model of acute spinal cord injury.