Changes of blood-brain barrier and cerebral edema following experimental brain injury in rats

Objective To investigate the characteristics of traumatic cerebral edema and the significance of interfering with brain edema following experimental brain injury.?Methods Using experimental rat brain model injured by fluid percussion device, contents of Evans blue and brain water in cerebral tissue were assayed,in the meantime the rat neurological behavior was observed.?Results Following brain injury, the content of Evans blue in direct and indirect percussion sides peaked at 4 hours, the percentage of brain water content was significantly increased at the same time. Among 4 days post injury the neurological function was obviously insulted. After pre treatment with phenidone, the contents of Evans blue and percent water in brain tissue were decreased in varying degrees,and the neurological function was partly improved.?Conclusion Following fluid percussion brain injury,Evans blue exuded from cerebral vessels and brain edema was produced, then the neurological function was injured. Phenidone, however, may prevent these insults from traumatic brain injury. These suggest that leukotrienes is one of the cause of blood brain barrier disruption and it is necessary for traumatic brain injury to decrease edema following brain injury.