Protective effects of breviscapine against traumatic brain injury in rats

Objective:To investigate the effects of breviscapine on traumatic brain edema,permeability of blood-brain bar- rier and oxidative stress in brain tissue of rats.Methods:Eighty-four rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group,low dose breviscapine group (25 mg/kg×2) and high dose hreviscapine group (50 mg/kg×2).Each group had 21 rats.Fluid percussion brain injury model was used.Breviscapine was injected through tail vein immediately following brain trauma and was administered again 8 h later.The contents of water,Evans blue,superoxide dismutase(SOD) and malondialde- hyde (MDA) in brain tissue were measured 24 h after brain trauma.Results:The contents of water,Evans blue,SOD and MDA in brain tissue were significantly different between sham operation group and model group.The contents of water,Evans blue and MDA were markedly decreased and the content of SOD in brain tissue was significantly increased in low-and high-dose breviscapine groups.Conclusion:Breviseapine could alleviate traumatic brain edema in rats.Its protective effect against brain trauma was related to decreasing the permeability of blood-brain barrier and inhibiting oxidative stress in brain tissue.