Effects of α-lipoicacid on cerebral neurologic injuries in traumatic brain injury patients

Objective To investigate the efficacy of α-lipoicacid on cerebral neurologic injuries in traumatic brain injury patients. Methods Thirty-six patients undergoing operation were randomly divided into two groups, control group(25 cases) and experiment group(25 cases). In experiment group 600 mg α-lipoicacid was given by intravenous injection before anesthesia induction, qd for 5 days, while in control group only equivalent of normal saline was administration. Blood samples were taken from intrajugular vein for determination of serum levels of S100β protein, neuron-specific enolase(NSE) at five time-points: before anesthesia, at the end of operation and postoperation 1 d, 3 d, 5 d. Glasgow outcome scale(GOS) of all patients were determined after 3 months of therapy. Results Compared with the control group, serum levels of S100β and NSE in the experiment group were decreased significantly(P<0.05). The GOS were significantly better in experiment group versus control group.Conclusions α-lipoicacid can attenuate cerebral neurologic injury in traumatic brain injury patients,and improve their outcome probably. Key words: α-lipoicacid;  Traumatic brain injury;  Cerebral neurologic injuries;  S100β protein