Neuroprotective effects of resveratrol against traumatic brain injury in immature rats

Childhood trauma resulting in traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to accidents and abuse is the major cause of death and dysfunction in the young. Since there are no approved specific pharmacological agents that block the progression of the secondary injury, the current management of TBI is mainly supportive. We aimed to determine the effect of resveratrol on hippocampal damage and behavioral deficits in 7-day-old rat pups subjected to contusion injury. Resveratrol was injected intraperitoneally at the doses of 100 mg/kg of body weight immediately after induction of traumatic injury. Hippocampal damage was examined by cresyl violet staining and behavioral alterations were evaluated using open field and novel object recognition tests 2 weeks after trauma. Histopathological evaluation showed that treatment with a single dose of 100 mg/kg resveratrol (i.p.) after the trauma significantly ameliorated the trauma induced hippocampal neuron loss at ipsilateral and contralateral hippocampal brain regions of rats. Additionally, treatment with resveratrol decreased anxiety and increased cortex/hippocampus dependent memory of animals subjected to blunt head trauma. These results show that acute treatment of resveratrol has a neuroprotective role against trauma induced hippocampal neuron loss and associated cognitive impairment in rats.