metiamide and Spinal-Cord-Injuries

The present experiments were designed to test the effect of antihistamines on the formation of post-traumatic edema of the spinal cord. Ten rhesus monkeys received 600 gm cm injuries to the T10 level of the spinal cord. Five animals received antihistamine treatment and five animals acted as untreated controls. Posttraumatic edema was estimated using radio-active tagged serum albumin. A significant increase in radioactivity of the injured segment was demonstrated in both groups when compared to noninjured issue, but no difference was demonstrated in the radioactivity of the injured segment in the treated versus the nontreated group.

Topics: Animals; Blood-Brain Barrier; Chlorpheniramine; Disease Models, Animal; Edema; Haplorhini; Histamine H1 Antagonists; Macaca mulatta; Metiamide; Spinal Cord Injuries

The authors studied the effect of pretreatment of monkeys with antihistamines on hyperemia observed in the lateral funiculus of the spinal cord after severe experimental spinal cord trauma. After administration of Chlorpheniramine and Metiamide, the spinal cords were traumatized with a 600 gm-cm injury. Blood flow in the lateral funiculus at the injury site was then determined hourly for 6 hours. The blood flow at this site remained in the normal range at all times in all animals. Neither a hyperemia nor an ischemia could be demonstrated. This finding reaffirms the authors' previous observation that ischemia does not exist in the lateral funiculus after severe experimental spinal cord trauma, and explains the previous observation of hyperemia as a histamine-related phenomenon, easily blocked by the administration of Chlorpheniramine and Metiamide, potent antihistamines which together block both the H1 and H2 receptor sites.

Topics: Animals; Blood Pressure; Chlorpheniramine; Haplorhini; Histamine; Hyperemia; Macaca mulatta; Metiamide; Regional Blood Flow; Spinal Cord; Spinal Cord Injuries; Syndrome