dl-3-n-butylphthalide reduces brain damage in mice with closed head injury

To investigate the protective effect of dl 3 n butylphthalide (NBP) as an anti cerebral ischemic drug on brain damage 24?h after closed head injury in mice Methods Closed head injury was induced by dropping a 50 g weight from a height of 18?cm on a metal impounder resting on the parietal bone in mice Results The neurotraumatic model induced impair^ment of memory function, significant cerebral edema, and disruption of the blood brain barrier dl 3 n butylphthalide (50?mg·kg 1 ) given intraperitoneally 5 minutes and 60 minutes after the onset of closed head injury was found to attenuate the impairment of memory function ( P <0 05), alleviate brain edema in the injured cerebral cortex ( P <0 05), and reduce extravasation of plasma protein bound to Evans blue dye by 63 5% ( P <0 01) NBP was also shown to increase the activity of choline acetyltransferase in the injured cortex to 0 83±0 21?ng·min 1 ·mg 1 ( P <0 01, compared with 0 48±0 14?ng·min 1 ·mg 1 of vehicle group) Conclusion NBP provides therapeutic response in experimental closed head injury