Effects of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on expression of ERK1/2 and neurological function in rats with traumatic brain injury

Objective To explore the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment on expression of extra-cellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2) and neurological function in acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) rats so as to offer trial support for clinical application of HBO in TBI.Methods Twenty-four adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham-operation group,TBI group and HBO treatment group,with eight rats per group.The sham-operation group was free from TBI but skull was opened only but the TBI group was subjected to TBI according to Alice method.TheHBO treatment group was treated with HBO for 10 days ( one time per day) after TBI operation.On day 14,NSS rating was performed in all rats.Then,the rats were sacrificed and cortex of which was obtained to measure the expression of ERK1/2 by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).The localization of the expression of ERK was detected by immunohistochemical staining and the changes in ERK protein was analyzed by optical density.Results The NSS score in the HBO group was significantly decreased at day 14 after HBO treatment ( P ＜ 0.01 ) and the expression of ERK1/2 in HBO group was also significantly decreased (P ＜ 0.05 ) in comparison with the TBI group.Conclusions HBO treatment can significantly decrease NSS score and expression of ERK1/2 in acute TBI rats,indicating that HBO may improve neurological function through down-regulating expression of ERK1/2. Key words: Brain injuries;  Hyperbaric oxygen;  Signaling pathways