Posttreatment with uridine and melatonin following traumatic brain injury reduces edema in various brain regions in rats.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major health problem and a significant cause of death, disability, and neurobehavioral deficits. We investigated the effect of posttreatment with uridine and melatonin, separate and in combination, on edema in various brain regions following TBI via lateral fluid percussion. Uridine (16 and 32 mg/kg, i.p.) and melatonin (200 mg/kg, i.p.), individually reduced edema in impacted striatum versus TBI. Combination treatment of uridine (32) and melatonin (200) decreased edema in impacted as well as non-impacted hippocampus (75.7 +/- 0.5% and 75.4 +/- 0.3%) and striatum (69.7 +/- 1.2% and 72.6 +/- 0.5%) respectively, as compared to the group that received vehicle following TBI. Combination of uridine (16) and melatonin (200) attenuated edema levels in impacted hippocampus (76.6 +/- 0.4%) and striatum (71.7 +/- 0.5% and 74 +/- 0.3%, respectively). Combination of uridine and melatonin may be a possible treatment strategy for the damage caused by TBI and its neuroprotective potential needs to be evaluated further.