During her undergraduate education, she was involved in molecular biology research with rodents, including caring for animals and doing minor surgical procedures. While at Upstate, she has conducted two previous research projects using rats. She has previously performed all the procedures involved in this protocol. John Smith - Mr. Smith holds a bachelor degree in biology. Although he has not been directly involved in any animal research projects, he has been trained in the major aspects of research using animals at SUNY Stonybrook.
All patients undergoing such operations are at risk for becoming paralyzed.
Glutamate causes damage by attaching to receptors on the nerve cells. These drugs also prevent the release of glutamate by an unknown mechanism. Although these drugs have shown activity against glutamate in cultured cells, they have never been tested to see if they can prevent the damage to the spinal cord seen with surgery on the aorta. We propose to study the effectiveness of one of these drugs, dextrorphan, on the protecting the spinal cord in a rabbit model. The rabbit is an excellent model for simulating aortic operations and the paraplegia associated with these operations.