Minocycline for Spinal Cord Injury

The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of IV minocycline in improving neurological and functional outcome after acute non-penetrating traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). The primary hypothesis is that intravenous minocycline twice daily (800 mg initial dose tapered to 400 mg by 100 mg at each dose then administered to the end of day 7) administered to subjects with acute traumatic non-penetrating cervical SCI starting within 12 hours of injury will improve motor recovery as assessed by the International Standards for Neurologic Classification of Spinal Cord Injury - ISNCSCI (a.k.a. ASIA) neurological examination measured between 3 months and 1 year post-injury, compared to placebo. The secondary hypotheses are that the above minocycline treatment will also results in improvement in ASIA sensory improvement, in ASIA grade and in functional outcome as assessed by Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) and Short Form 36 (SF-36), compared to placebo. In addition the effect of minocycline on neurological and functional outcome after SCI is expected to be more pronounced in those subjects with motor incomplete SCI compared to those with motor compete SCI. A subgroup analysis will be undertaken to examine this hypothesis.