Neuro-protective effect of Linalool against spinal cord injury in rats and the mechanism involved

The current study was conducted to determine the neuroprotective role and mechanism of action of Linalool (LIN) in SCI. The SCI in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats was induced by weight-drop contusion model. Results of the suggested that LIN showed improvement in the locomotor function of SCI rats in a BBB scoring analysis. It was found in agreement with histopathological analysis of spinal cord tissue where LIN improves the neuronal architecture of spinal cord tissues, and protect neurons from degeneration. It also reduces oxidative stress via modulating endogenous antioxidants (MDA, SOD, and GSH) and inhibits the generation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6). In western blot analysis, LIN showed dose-dependent reduction of expression of toll-like receptor (TLR-4) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-ĸB). Our study demonstrated that administration of Linalool alleviated spinal cord injury via anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities in spinal cord tissues possibly due to inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB activation.