Journal
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 385, Issue 3, Pages 234-239Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2005.05.055
Keywords
traumatic brain injury; immature rat; spatial memory deficits; hippocampal neuron death; melatonin
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It is well known that head trauma induces the cognitive dysfunction resulted from hippocampal damage. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the effect of melatonin on hippocampal damage and spatial memory deficits in 7-day-old rat pups subjected to contusion injury. Melatonin was injected intraperitoneally at the doses of 5 or 20 mg/kg of body weight immediately after induction of traumatic injury. Hippocampal damage was examined by cresyl violet staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Spatial memory performance was assessed in the Morris water maze. Melatonin significantly attenuated trauma-induced neuronal death in hippocampal CA1, CA3 regions and dentate gyrus, and improved spatial memory deficits, which was equally effective at doses of 5-20 mg/kg. The present results suggest that melatonin is a highly promising agent for preventing the unfavorable outcomes of traumatic brain injury in young children. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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