Study of the mechanism of brain injury caused by thrombin and the intervention effect of hirudin and nimodipine / 临床神经病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the mechanism of brain injury caused by thrombin and the intervention effect of hirudin and nimodipine.Methods Different doses of thrombin or/and hirudin were injected into nucleus caudatus of SD rats,nimodipine was given intraperitoneally.Dry-wet-weighing technique,immunohistochemical method and TUNEL were used to examine brain edema,the changes of cytoskeleton,neuron apoptosis and histological changes.Results(1) High dose of thrombin resulted in severe cerebral edema as early as 4 h after injection and the maximum edema occurred at 24~48 h.The edema gradually decreased and got close to normal within 3~7 d.Cytoskeleton changes were observed at early stage(4h),reversible or irreversible injuries presented at 24~48 h,and neuron necrosis occurred within 3~7 d.Neuron apoptosis started at 4h and peaked at 24~48 h.In contrast,low dose of thrombin and normal saline did not show these effects.(2) The effects of thrombin could be inhibited by hirudin and nimodipine(a calcium-ion antagonist) could relieve or delay cell injury.Conclusions High dose of thrombin may result in severe brain edema,neuron irreversible injury and apoptosis,which all peak at 24~48 h.Early treatments could greatly reduce brain damage and improve prognosis of intracerebral hemorrhage.