Argon attenuates the emergence of secondary injury after traumatic brain injury within a 2-hour incubation period compared to desflurane: an in vitro study

• Published in: Medical gas research Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 93 - 100
• Main Authors: Grüßer, Linda, Blaumeiser-Debarry, Rosmarie, Krings, Matthias, Kremer, Benedikt, Höllig, Anke, Rossaint, Rolf, Coburn, Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd 01.04.2017; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd
• Subjects: Anesthesiology; Atmosphere; Costs; Hospitals; Ischemia; Neurosurgery; Neurotoxicity; Rodents; Software; Studies; Trauma; Traumatic brain injury; Values; Variance analysis; United States > US; in vitro model; secondary injury; propidium iodide; neuroprotection; desflurane; traumatic brain injury; argon; organotypic hippocampal brain slices
• ISSN: 2045-9912; 2045-9912
• DOI: 10.4103/2045-9912.208512

Despite years of research, treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains challenging. Considerable data exists that some volatile anesthetics might be neuroprotective. However, several studies have also revealed a rather neurotoxic profile of anesthetics. In this study, we investigated the effects of argon 50%, desflurane 6% and their combination in an TBI model with incubation times similar to narcotic time slots in a daily clinical routine. Organotypic hippocampal brain slices of 5- to 7-day-old mice were cultivated for 14 days before TBI was performed. Slices were eventually incubated for 2 hours in an atmosphere containing no anesthetic gas, argon 50% or desflurane 6% or both. Trauma intensity was evaluated fluorescent imagery. Our results show that neither argon 50% nor desflurane 6% nor their combination could significantly reduce the trauma intensity in comparison to the standard atmosphere. However, in comparison to desflurane 6%, argon 50% displayed a rather neuroprotective profile within the first 2 hours after a focal mechanical trauma ( = 0.015). A 2-hour incubation in an atmosphere containing both gases, argon 50% and desflurane 6%, did not result in significant effects in comparison to the argon 50% group or the desflurane 6% group. Our findings demonstrate that within a 2-hour incubation time neither argon nor desflurane could affect propidium iodide-detectable cell death in an TBI model in comparison to the standard atmosphere, although cell death was less with argon 50% than with desflurane 6%. The results show that within this short time period processes concerning the development of secondary injury are already taking place and may be manipulated by argon.