查看文章

Although the administration of progesterone has been shown to be neuroprotective in experimental models of traumatic brain injury (TBI), the mechanisms for this beneficial effect are still poorly understood. The present study examined the effects of progesterone on mRNA and protein levels of the Bcl-2 apoptosis regulatory genes, bax, bad, bcl-2, and bcl-x_L, in cerebral cortex after TBI. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to either sham surgery or lateral fluid percussion brain injury of moderate severity (2.4–2.6 atm). Within 1 h post-surgery, progesterone (4 mg/kg) or vehicle (corn oil) administration was initiated for 1–7 days postoperatively. Our results indicate that bax and bad mRNA levels and Bax and Bad protein expression in the ipsilateral, injured cerebral cortex were significantly elevated post-TBI, while mRNA levels of bcl-2 and bcl-x_L or Bcl-2 and Bcl-x_L protein expression were not changed. Under …