| Objective:traumatic brain injury(TBI)combined with acute ethanol intoxication(AEI)is a common disease. The current study was designed to find out the influence of AEI on brain edema, neuron apoptosis. The underlying mechanism was also investigated.Materials and Methods:192 male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, namely the sham operation group(control group),the acute ethanol intoxication group(AEI group),the traumatic brain injury group(TBI group)and the combination of acute ethanol intoxication with traumatic brain injury group(AEI+TBI group).Each group was further divided into four sub-groups according to the time interval between injuries and scarify of the rats. After brain tissue fixation and dissection, neuron apoptosis and brain water content was detected by TUNEL and dry-wet analysis respectively. The mRNA and protein of AQP-4 were detected by RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and western blot respectively.Results:The water content of brain tissue as well as the number of apoptotic cells in AEI+TBI group and TBI group increased compared to the control group. It reached a peak 72h after injury. AQP-4 in the TBI and AEI+TBI groups were higher than control group, furthermore the increased level in TBI group is greater than in AEI+TBI group, and reached a peak in 24h.Conclutions:acute ethanol intoxication increased the cerebral edema and neuronal apoptosis after traumatic brain injury. At the same time acute ethanol intoxication inhibited the expression of AQP-4, which induced a more severe cerebral edema. |
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