Valproate administered after traumatic brain injury provides neuroprotection and improves cognitive function in rats.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) initiates a complex series of neurochemical and signaling changes that lead to pathological events including neuronal hyperactivity, excessive glutamate release, inflammation, increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and cerebral edema, altered gene expression, and neuronal dysfunction. It is believed that a drug combination, or a single drug acting on multiple targets, may be an effective strategy to treat TBI. Valproate, a widely used antiepileptic drug, has a number of targets including GABA transaminase, voltage-gated sodium channels, glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3, and histone deacetylases (HDACs), and therefore may attenuate a number of TBI-associated pathologies.

Methodology/principal findings

Using a rodent model of T

SUBMITTER: Dash PK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2894851 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature