Effect of Xingnaojing injection on cerebral edema and blood-brain barrier in rats following traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Objective To explore the effects of Xingnaojing injection on cerebral edema and blood-brain barrier (BBB) in rats following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods A total of 108 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used as subjects and randomly assigned to three groups: sham-operation, TBI and Xingnaojing injection groups (10 ml·kg −1·d −1, intraperitoneal injection). TBI in rats was set up by the improved device of Feeney's weight-dropping model with the impact of 600 gem. Brain water content and BBB permeability expressed as Evans blue content were measured at 1, 3, 5 and 7 days after surgery. Results In sham-operation group, brain water content and Evans blue content in brain tissue were 78.97%± 1.22% and 5.13 μg±0.71μg. Following TBI, water content in brain tissue was increased significantly at 1, 3, 5 and 7 days (83.49% ±0.54%, 82.74%±0.72%, 80.22%±0.68%, 79.21%±0.60%), being significantly higher than that in sham operation group (P<0.05). Evans blue content was increased in TBI group (16.54 μg ± 0.60 μg, 14.92 μg±0.71 μg, 12.44 μg ±0.92 μg, 10.14 μg±0.52 μg) as compared with sham-operation group(P<0.05). After treatment with Xingnaojing injection, brain water content decreased as compared with TBI group (81.9 1% ±1. 04%, 80.38%±0.72%, 79.5 4%±0.5 8%, 78.60%±0.77%, P < 0.05). Xingnaojing injection also reduced the leakage of BBB as compared with TBI group (15.11 μg± 0.63 μg, 13.62 μg ±0.85 μg, 10.06 μg±0.67 μg, 9.54 μg ±0.41 μg, P<0.05). Conclusion Xingnaojing injection could alleviate cerebral edema following TBI via reducing permeability of BBB.