Objective:Toexplorethecontentchangeofneurofilament(NF)proteinsubunitsintheexperimentalbraindiffuseaxonalinjury(DAI)bylateralheadrotation.Methods:Twenty-fourSpragueDawley(SD)ratswereequallypidedintothreeinjurygroups(2h,12h,and24hpostinjury)andonecontrolgroup.ThemodelsofDAIweremadeintheinjurygroupsbylateralheadrotation.westernblottingtechniquewasusedtomeasuretheconteneofNF68(akindofNFproteinsubunit)inthebrainstemtissuesamongalltheinjuredandcontrolrats.TheNF68immunohistochemicalstainingwasusedinanothersixSDratsinordertoobservethemorphologicalchangesinDAI.Results:TheNF68contentinthebrainstemtendedtodecreaseat2hpostinjury,decreasedsignificantlyat12handcontinueditsdecreaseat24h.NF56andNF52,asthebreakdownproductsofNF68,hadatendencytoincreaseat2-12haftertheinjury,andamountedtoasignificantlyhigherlevelat24h.Microscopically,therewerealotofswellingneuronalaxonsintheventralpartofthemedullaroblongateat2haftertheinjury.someaxonsweredisconnected,andaxonalretractionballsformedontheirproximalend.Conclusions:ThereisandoccurrenceofphosphorolysiswithinthebrainsteminDAIbylateralheadrotation.ThesereactionscausethebreakdownofNF68,whichresultsinthedecreaseofNF68incontent.ItsuggeststhatthebreakdownofneurofilamentproteinsubunitsisanimportantreasonforstructuraldestroyofneurofilamentsinDAI.
