[The morphological changes in the myocardium associated with the craniocerebral injury]. / Morfologicheskie izmeneniia miokarda pri cherepno-mozgovoi travme.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the structural changes in the capillaries, arterioles, venules, and cardiomyocytes in the myocardium of the rats following the craniocerebral injury (CCI). Eighteen non-pedigree white female rats with the craniocerebral injury were used as the CCI model. All the animals were given an intraperitoneal injection of sodium thiopental (100 mg/kg b.w.) within 3, 7, and 12 days after the injury. The heart was removed after thoracotomy and the myocardial tissue was examined with the light and electron microscopes. It was shown that the rats with the craniocerebral injury developed well apparent changes in the myocardial tissue during the early post-traumatic period that affected not only the blood vessels themselves (capillaries, arterioles, venules) but also the intra- and extravascular structures. Changes in the microcirculatory system included damages to the mitochondria, myofibrils, cell nuclei, sarcoplasmic reticulum, and cardiomyocytes. It is concluded that the morphological changes in the myocardium of the animals associated with the craniocerebral injury can induce the development of functional disorders in the cardiovascular system during the early post-traumatic period.

[USING MEXICOR TO CORRECT THE FUNCTIONAL PARAMETERS OF RED BLOOD CELLS IN RATS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY MODEL].

The effect of mexicor on the functional characteristics of erythrocytes under conditions of post-traumatic period has been studied on rats with traumatic brain injury (TBI) model. TBI leads to an increase in the aggregation of erythrocytes by 143% (p = 0.003), increases the concentration of malonic dialdehyde (MDA) by 40% (p = 0.006), and decreases the electrophoretic mobility of erythrocytes by 22% (p = 0.005) relative to the levels of these indices in intact animals. The administration of mexicor (8.0 mg/day, injected intraperitoneally twice per day for 12 days) upon TBI led to a maximum reduction in the MDA concentration by 61% (p = 0.03) and decreased the aggregation of erythrocytes by 36% (p = 0.01), increased the electrophoretic mobility of erythrocytes by 20% (p = 0.003) on the 3rd day of posttraumatic period, and increased the concentrations of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate by 23% (p = 0.02) on the 7th day as compared to the positive control. The most pronounced changes under the action of mexicor were observed within 3 - 7 days after the onset of TBI. The obtained data show the efficacy of mexicor in the treatment of rats with TBI model, which is manifested by a 40% (p = 0.02) shorter period of recovery of the functional parameters of red blood cells in comparison to the positive control.