Interruption of spinal cord microglial signaling by alpha-2 agonist dexmedetomidine in a murine model of delayed paraplegia

Background Despite investigation into preventable pharmacologic adjuncts, paraplegia continues to complicate thoracoabdominal aortic interventions. The alpha 2a adrenergic receptor agonist, dexmedetomidine, has been shown to preserve neurologic function and neuronal viability in a murine model of spinal cord ischemia reperfusion, although the mechanism remains elusive. We hypothesize that dexmedetomidine will blunt postischemic inflammation in vivo following thoracic aortic occlusion with in vitro demonstration of microglial inhibition following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Methods Adult male C57BL/6 mice underwent 4 minutes of aortic occlusion. Mice received 25 μg/kg intraperitoneal dexmedetomidine (n = 8) or 0.9% normal saline (n = 7) at reperfusion and 12-hour intervals postoperatively until 48 hours. Additionally, sham mice (n = 3), which had aortic arch exposed with no occlusion, were included for comparison. Functional scoring was done at 6 hours following surgery and 12-hour intervals until 60 hours when spinal cords were removed and examined for neuronal viability and cytokine production. Additional analysis of microglia activation was done in 12 hours following surgery. Age- and sex-matched mice had spinal cord removed for microglial isolation culture. Cells were grown to confluence and stimulated with toll-like receptor-4 agonist LPS 100 ng/mL in presence of dexmedetomidine or vehicle control for 24 hours. Microglia and media were then removed for analysis of protein expression. Results Dexmedetomidine treatment at reperfusion significantly preserved neurologic function with mice in treatment group having a Basso Score of 6.3 in comparison to 2.3 in ischemic control group. Treatment was associated with a significant reduction in microglia activation and in interleukin-6 production. Microglial cells in isolation when stimulated with LPS had an increased production of proinflammatory cytokines and markers of activation. Treatment with dexmedetomidine significantly attenuated microglial activation and proinflammatory cytokine production in vitro with a greater than twofold reduction in tumor necrosis factor-α. Conclusions Alpha 2a agonist, dexmedetomidine treatment at reperfusion preserved neurologic function and neuronal viability. Furthermore, dexmedetomidine treatment resulted in an attenuation of microglial activation and proinflammatory cytokine production both in vivo and in vitro following LPS stimulation. This finding lends insight