The relationship between the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 and neurological function after fluid percussion brain injury in rats / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4),and explore its relationship with neurological function after fluid percussion brain injury in rats.Methods 56 adult rats were randomly divided into traumatic brain injury group(TBI group,n=48) and sham operation group(SO group,n=8).The experimental models were established.The water content of edematous brain and the expression of TLR4 were measured with dry-wet measure,immunohistochemistry and Western Blot at 1 h,6 h,12 h,24 h,3 d,7 d after shock respectively.Results Compared with SO group,neuronal function score decreased in TBI group from 6 h(3.86±0.42),reached to the lowest level at 24 h(2.65±0.32),and gradually rose at 3rd day (3.25±0.17).TLR4 immunoreactive expression increased from 6 h,reached its maxmum at 24 h,lasted to 3rd day,and then began to drop at 7th day.The linear regression analysis indicated that expression of TLR4 had negative correlation with change of neuronal function score (r 1 =-0.824,r w =-0.867,P＜0.05).Conclusion TLR4 expression is upregulated following fluid percussion injury in rats and involved in neurological function impairment by inducing secondary inflammatory brain injury.