Ulinastatin attenuates brain edema after traumatic brain injury in rats

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains the leading cause of injury-related death and disability. Brain edema, one of the most major complications of TBI, contributes to elevated intracranial pressure, and poor prognosis following TBI. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether Ulinastatin (UTI), a serine protease inhibitor, attenuates brain edema following TBI. Our results showed that treatment with UTI at a dose of 50,000 U/kg attenuated the brain edema, as assayed by water content 24 h after TBI induction. This attenuation was associated with a significant decrease of the expression level of aquaporin-4. In addition, we showed that UTI treatment also markedly inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β and TNF-α as well as activity of NF-κB. Collectively, our findings suggested that UTI may be a promising strategy to treat brain edema following TBI.