title: Therapeutic effect of vitamin D3 in a rat diffuse axonal injury model.
abstract: We investigated the therapeutic effect of vitamin D3 in a rat diffuse axonal injury model. A total of 60 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 175-200 g were anaesthetized and subjected to head trauma using Marmarou's impact-acceleration model. The rats were then separated into two groups; one group was treated with vitamin D3 and the other with saline for up to 4 days after the head trauma. Rats from both groups were killed 1, 3 or 8 days post-injury. The brains were examined histopathologically and scored according to the level of neuronal, vascular and axonal damage. There were no significant differences between the groups after 1 or 3 days, but evaluation after 8 days revealed a significant improvement in the group treated with vitamin D3. Our data indicate that vitamin D3 has a beneficial effect in diffuse axonal injury and may be useful in the management of this condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey. umitali@atauni.edu.tr
authors.forename: U A
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Malcok
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sengul
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kadioglu
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Aydin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D002762:Cholecalciferol