Effect of ulinastatin on serum levels of IL-6 and NSE in patients with acute moderate traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of ulinastatin on the serum levels of IL-6 and NSE in patients with acute moderate traumatic brain injury and to explore the molecular biological mechanism of ulinastatin in the treatment of acute moderate traumatic brain injury. Methods A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. 86 patients with acute moderate traumatic brain injury were randomly divided into control group and observation group. The control group received conventional treatment and placebo (0.9% sodium chloride), while the observation group was treated with ulinastatin on the basis of conventional treatment, 200 000 U, 2 times / day, 7 days for 1 course. The serum levels of NSE and IL-6 were compared between the two groups on the first, third, fifth, and seventh day after treatment. Results There was no statistically significant difference in the serum level of IL-6 between the two groups on the first day after treatment (P>0.05); the serum level of IL-6 of the observation group was lower than that of the control group on the third, fifth, and seventh day after treatment, with statistically significant differences (P 0.05); the serum level of NSE of the observation group was lower than that of the control group on the fifth and seventh day after treatment, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). Conclusion Ulinastatin inhibits the secondary inflammatory cascade reaction in patients with acute moderate traumatic brain injury and reduces the inappropriate apoptosis of nerve cells around the lesion. Key words: Ulinastatin; Acute moderate traumatic brain injury; Interleukin-6; Neuron specific enolase