TITLE:
Protective Effects of α-Tocopherol against Brain Tissue Damage Induced by Intracerebral Hemorrhage in SD Rats
AUTHORS:
Zhiyong Chen, Jinfu Yang, Fuyin Ren, Weiwei Ye, Guangyong Wu
KEYWORDS:
α-Tocopherol, Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH), Cerebral Edema, Bax, Bcl-2
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Neuroscience,
Vol.6 No.1,
February
29,
2016
ABSTRACT: Lipid peroxidation
mediated by oxygen radical is one of the main mechanisms underlying secondary
brain injury. Among all vitamin E compounds, α-tocopherol
shows the most prominent antioxidative effects. It plays an important role in
cell aging and injury. However, there has been no report regarding the effects
of α-tocopherol on changes
in brain tissue morphology after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), cerebral
edema, or the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 proteins. We use SD rats to carry out
the related studies; based on the atlas of SD rats, the caudate nucleus was
positioned using a stereotaxic apparatus, and 50 μl autologous tail artery
blood was injected to caudate nucleus in the ICH and α-tocopherol groups to
establish ICH model. Rats in the sham surgery group received the same volume of
saline in the caudate nucleus. Rats in the α-tocopherol
group received intraperitoneal injections of α-tocopherol
at 600 mg/kg every day. Rats in the ICH group and sham surgery group received
the same amount of saline at the same times as those in the α-tocopherol group. We observed
some interesting results: comparisons of brain tissue sections of rats from
different groups showed that brain tissue damage and functional neurological
deficits among rats from the α-tocopherol
group were less pronounced than in the ICH group. Wet weight/ dry weight
measurement showed that rats from the α-tocopherol
group exhibited less cerebral edema than those in the ICH group. Rats from the α-tocopherol group showed less
Bax expression and more Bcl-2 expression than those in the ICH group.