title: A pre-injury high ethanol intake in rats promotes brain edema following traumatic brain injury.
abstract: Drinking is a risk factor for traumatic brain injury (TBI), and ethanol can aggravate the outcome by promoting brain edema. The mechanism involved is not fully understood. It has been confirmed that aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) play pivotal roles in cytotoxic/vasogenic brain edema individually, and both of these proteins are downstream regulatory factors of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). In this study, we used a fluid percussion injury (FPI) model in rats to determine the effects of acute ethanol intake on the expression levels of HIF-1α, AQP4, and VEGF prior to FPI. The animals were sacrificed 1, 2, 3, and 4 days post-injury. We found that the expression levels of HIF-1α and AQP4 were significantly upregulated in the ethanol-pretreated groups, whereas the VEGF expression level was not. In addition, there was a positive correlation between HIF-1α and AQP4. The results of this study indicate that cytotoxic brain edema may play an important role in the early stage of FPI in ethanol-pre-treated animals and that HIF-1α and AQP4 might be involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University , Beijing , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Weichuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Runfa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Shuyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Feifan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Baiyun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000378:metabolism; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C496032:Aqp4 protein, rat; D051401:Aquaporin 4; C497444:Hif1a protein, rat; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C467498:vascular endothelial growth factor A, rat; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: brain edema; ethanol intake; fluid percussion injury; traumatic brain injury