Dl-3-n-butylphthalide improves functional recovery in rats with spinal cord injury by inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis.

. Our results showed that NBP significantly decreased spinal cord lesion cavity area and improved locomotor recovery in SD rats after SCI. NBP also decreased neuronal apoptosis and inhibited activation of the caspase 3 cascade. Upregulation of ER stress-related proteins, such as GRP78, ATF-6, ATF-4, PDI, XBP-1, and CHOP, was reversed by NBP treatment in SD rats with SCI. Similarly, NBP effectively ameliorated ER stress and apoptosis-related protein expression induced by incubation with thapsigargin (TG) in PC12 cells. Our findings demonstrate that NBP treatment alleviates secondary SCI by inhibiting ER stress-induced apoptosis, thereby promoting neurological and locomoter functional recovery.