Comparing Effects of Intraventricular Hypertonic Saline and Magnesium Sulfate Application on Diffuse Brain Injury in Rats

Abstract

Objective: Diffuse brain injury is one of the most common issues encountered in, patients with trauma and it leads to morbidity and mortality via increased intracranial pressure. The aim of the study was to compare the effects of magnesium sulfate and hypertonic saline on diffuse brain injury in rats. Materials and Methods: In this study 18 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 250-300 g were used. The rats were randomly divided into trauma (control), trauma+magnesium, and trauma+hypertonic saline groups. Traumatic brain injury was induced by modified Feeney head trauma model. A single dose of 10 µL isotonic saline, magnesium sulphate and hypertonic saline were applied intraventricularly to the control, magnesium, and hypertonic saline groups, respectively. Rats were decapitated 24 hours after the head trauma. Their brains were dissected immediately and stored with dry ice at -80 °C for histopathological experiments. Results: The number of damaged neurons were significantly higher in both control and hypertonic saline groups (p=0.001, p=0.008). However, the number of damaged neurons did not show significant difference between hypertonic saline and control groups, it was significantly lower in magnesium group (p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, intraventricular magnesium application is found effective in reducing the number of the damaged neurons in rat traumatic brain injury model. These results suggest that magnesium usage may be evaluated for the treatment of patients with traumatic brain injury in further prospective studies.