ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the protective effect of progesterone on brain edema in newborn rats with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy(HIE).Methods Fifty-two 7-day-old neonatal rats were randomly divided into 5 groups:normol control group(group A),hypoxic-ischemic group (group B) and pretreatment groups(group C,D and E).Rats were subjected to left common carotid artery ligation,then were exposed to 8% oxygen and 92% nitrogen for 2.5 hours to establish HIE model.Progesterone was injected intraperitoneally into the groups C,D and E rats respectively at 30 minutes before hypoxia.All rats were killed at the 24 hours after operations,then the contents of water,sodium,potassium were mensurated. Results The contentation of water in group B was higher than that in group A,the contentation of water,sodium in groups C,D and E were significantly lower compared with group B, but the contents potassium were no difference between group C,E and B. Conclusion Progesterone exerts a prominent preventive and protetive effects on the hypoxic ischemic brain edema in newborn rats.