Effect of lavage with artificial cerebrospinal fluid on neural cell apoptosis and the ERK pathway after rat traumatic brain injury

Abstract

To explore the eff ect of lavage with artificial cerebrospinal fluid on neural cell apoptosis and the extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) pathway aft er traumatic brain injury. A total of 192 SD rats were randomly divided into a sham group, a traumatic brain injury model group, a local artificial cerebrospinal fluid group, and a local saline group. Each group was divided into 4 sub-groups by the sacrificed time at 6 h, 12 h, 1 d and 3 d aft er the operation. Th e phosphorylation of extracellular regulated kinase 2 (P-ERK2), TNF-α and cellular apoptosis were examined. Th e levels of P-ERK2 protein and TNF-α protein, as well as the number of apoptotic cells at each time point in the local artificial cerebrospinal fluid group were lower than those in the model group or in the saline group (P<0.05). Lavage with artificial cerebrospinal fluid can reduce apoptosis of neural cells after brain injury through the ERK pathway.