Prior ethanol injection promotes brain edema after traumatic brain injury.
Alcohol consumption prior to traumatic brain injury (TBI) promotes morbidity and mortality although the mechanisms involved remain unclear. The morbidity and mortality caused by TBI, especially brain contusion, are known to be closely associated with brain edema. Here we examined the effects of ethanol pretreatment on brain edema, inflammatory responses, and oxidative stress after brain contusion. Male Wistar rats were given 3 g/kg ethanol intraperitoneally and 1 h later were subjected to brain contusion. The ethanol-pretreated group had a significantly decreased survival rate. Magnetic resonance imaging showed ethanol pretreatment significantly augmented the volume of cytotoxic brain edema after contusion. In the ethanol-pretreated rat, the activities of NF-kappaB and AP-1 were reduced 6 h after contusion and COX-2 mRNA expression was increased 24 h after contusion. These findings suggest that ethanol augmented cerebral edema and mortality in rats with brain contusion, possibly through actions on cell survival pathways or COX-2 expression. In addition, antioxidant treatment at 3 h post-injury significantly attenuated some markers of oxidative stress, mortality, and volume of edema at 24 h after ethanol treatment and contusion.
Katada
Ryuichi
R
Department of Legal Medicine and Molecular Alcohology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Nishitani
Yoko
Y
Honmou
Osamu
O
Okazaki
Shunichiro
S
Houkin
Kiyohiro
K
Matsumoto
Hiroshi
H
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D016328:NF-kappa B; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1; D000431:Ethanol; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2