Evaluation of the Therapeutic and Protective Properties of Agomelatine in an Experimental Rat Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Model

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of agomelatin treatment after spinal cord injury. A total of 24 male Sprague Dawley rats were used in the study, with 6 animals in each group. The groups consisted of 4 subgroups: control, spinal cord injury (SI), spinal cord injury-agomelatin (SI-A), and agomelatin (A). The control group underwent laminectomy only at the T7-T9 level. In the SI group, following T7-T9 laminectomy, the dura was left intact and the spinal cord was compressed with the Tator and Rivlin clip method for one minute. In the SI-A group, following T7-T9 laminectomy, the dura was left intact and the spinal cord was compressed with the Tator and Rivlin clip method for one minute, followed by seven days of 20 mg/kg oral agomelatin treatment. In the A group, laminectomy was performed at T7-T9 followed by seven days of 20 mg/kg oral agomelatin treatment. On the seventh day, the surgical wound was reopened, and the injured spinal cord was carefully removed. Histopathological examination of the spinal cord samples was performed. The control group showed a normal histological appearance. In the SI group, an increase in hemorrhage areas was observed in hematoxylin-eosin staining. In the SI-A group, a decrease in hemorrhage areas was observed compared to the SI group. No abnormal structures were found in the A group. In conclusion, agomelatin administration after spinal cord injury has shown a therapeutic effect in spinal cord injury.