Traumatic Brain Injury Causes Long-Term Reduction in Serum Growth Hormone and Persistent Astrocytosis in the Cortico-Hypothalamo-Pituitary Axis of Adult Male Rats

In humans, traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes pathological changes in the hypothalamus (HT) and the pituitary. One consequence of TBI is hypopituitarism, with deficiency of single or multiple hormones of the anterior pituitary (AP), including growth hormone (GH). At present no animal model of TBI with ensuing hypopituitarism has been demonstrated. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether cortical contusion injury (CCI) could induce long-term reduction of serum GH in rats. We also tested the hypothesis that TBI to the medial frontal cortex (MFC) would induce inflammatory changes in the HT and AP. Methods: Nine young adult male rats were given sham surgery (n =4) or controlled impact contusions (n = 5) of the MFC. Two months post-injury they were killed, trunk blood collected and their brains and AP harvested. GH was measured in serum and AP using ELISA and Western blot respectively. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were measured in the cortex (Cx), HT, and AP by Western blot. Results: Lesion rats had significantly (p< 0.05) lower levels of GH in the AP and serum, unaltered serum IGF-1, and significantly (p< 0.05) higher levels of IL-1 beta in the Cx and HT and GFAP in the Cx, HT, and AP compared to that of shams. Conclusion: CCI leads to a long-term depletion of serum GH in male rats. This chronic change in GH post-TBI is probably the result of systemic and persistent inflammatory changes observed at the level of HT and AP, the mechanism of which is not yet known.