Research
Propofol: neuroprotection in an in vitro model of traumatic brain injury
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* Corresponding author: Mark Coburn mcoburn@ukaachen.de
1 Department of Anesthesiology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
2 Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
3 Department of Surgical Intensive Care, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Critical Care 2009, 13:R61 doi:10.1186/cc7795
Published: 27 April 2009Abstract
Introduction
The anaesthetic agent propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) has been shown to be an effective neuroprotective agent in different in vitro models of brain injury induced by oxygen and glucose deprivation. We examined its neuroprotective properties in an in vitro model of traumatic brain injury.
Methods
In this controlled laboratory study organotypic hippocampal brain-slice cultures were gained from six- to eight-day-old mice pups. After 14 days in culture, hippocampal brain slices were subjected to a focal mechanical trauma and subsequently treated with different molar concentrations of propofol under both normo- and hypothermic conditions. After 72 hours of incubation, tissue injury assessment was performed using propidium iodide (PI), a staining agent that becomes fluorescent only when it enters damaged cells via perforated cell membranes. Inside the cell, PI forms a fluorescent complex with nuclear DNA.
Results
A dose-dependent reduction of both total and secondary tissue injury could be observed in the presence of propofol under both normo- and hypothermic conditions. This effect was further amplified when the slices were incubated at 32°C after trauma.
Conclusions
When used in combination, the dose-dependent neuroprotective effect of propofol is additive to the neuroprotective effect of hypothermia in an in vitro model of traumatic brain injury.