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Cerebral edema is a common complication following moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), and a significant risk factor for development of neuronal death and deterioration of neurological outcome. To this date, medical approaches that effectively alleviate cerebral edema and neuronal death after TBI are not available. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has anti-inflammatory properties on cerebral endothelium and exerts neuroprotective effects. Here, we investigated the effects of GLP-1 on secondary injury after moderate and severe TBI. Male Sprague Dawley rats were subjected either to TBI by Controlled Cortical Impact (CCI) or sham surgery. After surgery, vehicle or a GLP-1 analogue, Liraglutide, were administered subcutaneously twice daily for two days. Treatment with Liraglutide (200 μg/kg) significantly reduced cerebral edema in pericontusional regions and improved sensorimotor function 48 hours after CCI. The integrity of the blood-brain barrier was markedly preserved in Liraglutide treated animals, as determined by cerebral extravasation of Evans blue conjugated albumin. Furthermore, Liraglutide reduced cortical tissue loss, but did not affect tissue loss and delayed neuronal death in the thalamus on day 7 post injury. Together, our data suggest that the GLP-1 pathway might be a promising target in the therapy of cerebral edema and cortical neuronal injury after moderate and severe TBI.

Tetracykline is a first-line treatment of the common skin disorder acne vulgaris. A rare side effect of tetracycline treatment is intracranial hypertension also called pseudotumor cerebri (PTC). We report a severe case of PTC with cranial nerve palsy and visual loss in a 16 year old girl following acne vulgaris treatment with tetracycline.

Objective S100B is viewed as the most promising biomarkerfor brain damage. It has been proposed that thismarker is useful in a Neurointensive Care Unit (NICU) as amonitoring parameter. This study aims to examine theclinical usefulness of daily serum S100B measurements inthis setting.Design Prospective consecutive inclusion of patients.Patients A total of 79 patients with confirmed or suspectedhead injury or cerebrovascular insults (CVIs) (basedupon patient history, computed tomography (CT) and/ormagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neurologicalexamination including coma scoring) who required neurointensivecare were included in the study.Interventions Sampling for S100B was performed atadmission and daily until patients were discharged from theNICU. S100B measurements were statistically compared tooccurrence of secondary complications and outcomeaccording to Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), with focuson clinical prediction.Measurements and main results 17 of 79 patients (22%)had secondary neurological complications. Mean S100Blevels were found to be an independent parameterassociated with these complications (P = 0.03). MeanS100B levels were higher in patients with complicationscompared to those without on both the complication day(P = 0.033) and the day after (P = 0.015), but not the dayprior to the complication (P = 0.62). S100B did not predictsecondary neurological complication. Neither mean(P = 0.182) nor peak (P = 0.370) S100B levels wereassociated with or predicted outcome according to dichotomisedGOS.Conclusion Daily S100B measurements are associatedwith secondary complications but not to outcome. However,daily S100B levels do not predict secondary complications,which limit the usefulness of this brainbiomarker in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]