RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of erythropoietin, dextran/saline and erythropoietin in combination with dextran/saline on brain edema and lipid peroxidation following traumatic brain injury in rats. METHODS: In the study, 40 male 3-month-old albino Wistar rats, weighing 250-340 g, were divided into four groups, each consisting of ten rats. Traumatic brain injury was induced in all rats by the weight-drop method, and erythropoietin (5,000 U/kg) and/or dextran and saline (8 ml/kg) solutions were injected intraperitoneally ten minutes after trauma. Control animals received an equal volume of serum physiologic. All rats were sacrificed 24 hours later. Glutathione peroxidase activity and malondialdehyde levels were measured in the left hemisphere, and edema was quantitated by the wet-dry method. RESULTS: Brain edema and the levels of malondialdehyde, the last product of lipid peroxidation in tissues, were decreased variably, and the activity of glutathione peroxidase, an antioxidant enzyme, was increased in others compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: In this study, it was concluded that the brain edema that developed in rats on which head trauma was induced and the secondary brain damage caused by oxidative stress could be deceased using a combination of erythropoietin, dextran, and saline.