Effect Of Catecholamines In Brain Cortex, Activities Of Erythrocyte Membrane ATPase, And Stimulation Of Locus Ceruleus On Traumatic Brain Edema

In the present study, changes of catecholamines (CA) contents in brain cortex, activities of erythrocyte membrane adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), hemorheological parameters, and the effect of stimulation or destroy of locus ceruleus on brain edema were determined following brain injury which was produced by a dropping weight method in rats.Part 1: Changes of CA contents in brain cortex, activities of erythrocyte membrane ATPase, and their relevance to brain edema following cerebral traumaThe experiments were conducted on 401 male Sprague-Dawley rats. Brain water, ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺), CA contents; ATPase activities of erythrocyte membrane and brain tissue, plasma CA levels, ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺) concentration in erythrocyte, and hemorheological parameters were ana-lyed at 6. 24, 72 and 168 hours after brain injury and sham injury, compared with normal values measured in unoperated rats. Meanwhile, neuronal damage in cortex and hippocampus was assessed quantitatively following trauma. Additionally, the effect of pretreatment as well as postinjury administration of low molecular weight dextran for isovolemic hemodilution, and treated with salvia miltiorrhiza on traumatic brain edema was also evaluated in the study.Brain water content significantly increased at 6 hours after injury as compared to the control value, and reached its peak by 24 hours following trauma (P...