Resuscitation with Valproic Acid Alters Inflammatory Genes in a Porcine Model of Combined Traumatic Brain Injury and Hemorrhagic Shock

Traumatic brain injury and hemorrhagic shock (TBI+HS) elicit a complex inflammatory response that contributes to secondary brain injury. There is currently no proven pharmacologic treatment for TBI+HS, but modulation of the epigenome has been shown to be a promising strategy. The aim of this study was to investigate whether valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, modulates the expression of cerebral inflammatory gene profiles in a large animal model of TBI+HS. Ten Yorkshire swine were subjected to computer-controlled TBI+HS (40% blood volume). After 2 h of shock, animals were resuscitated with Hextend (HEX) or HEX+VPA (300 mg/kg, n = 5/group). Six hours after resuscitation, brains were harvested, RNA was isolated, and gene expression profiles were measured using a porcine microarray. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis® (IPA), gene ontology (GO), Parametric Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (PGSEA), and DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery) were used for pathway analysis. Key microarray findings were verified using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). IPA analysis revealed that VPA significantly down-regulated the complement system (p < 0.001), natural killer cell communication (p < 0.001), and dendritic cell maturation (p < 0.001). DAVID analysis indicated that a cluster of inflammatory pathways held the highest rank and gene enrichment score. Real-time PCR data confirmed that VPA significantly down-expressed genes that ultimately regulate nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB)-mediated production of cytokines, such as TYROBP, TREM2, CCR1, and IL-1β. This high-throughput analysis of cerebral gene expression shows that addition of VPA to the resuscitation protocol significantly modulates the expression of inflammatory pathways in a clinically realistic model of TBI+HS.