Prognostic value of interleukin-1 beta levels after acute brain injury.

Traumatic injury to central nervous system results in the production of inflammatory cytokines via intrinsic mechanisms by neurons, astrocytes and microglia, and extrinsic mechanisms by infiltrating macrophages, lymphocytes and other leukocytes. Interleukin-1 beta is the key mediator of the acute inflammatory host response. While this response is necessary for resolution of the pathologic event, the toxic nature of many of its products can cause significant tissue damage.

Neuroprotective effects of propofol following global cerebral ischemia in rats.

Propofol has cerebral vascular and metabolic effects similar to those of barbiturates, and it is used to maintain neurosurgical anesthesia because it reduces cerebral metabolic rate, cerebral blood flow, and intracranial pressure. Although the use of propofol as a cerebral protectant during certain neurosurgical procedures has been advocated, consensus has not been reached as to a protective effect of propofol on cerebral ischemia. In this study we observed the neuroprotective effects of propofol during global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by the use of four-vessel occlusion method in a rat model.