Cerebroprotective effect of dexamethasone by increasing the tolerance to hypoxia and preventing brain oedema in newborn piglets with experimental pneumothorax.

The effect of dexamethasone (DXM) pretreatment in newborn piglets with experimental pneumothorax (EPT) was studied. Neither low DXM doses nor those administered 1 or 2 h prior to the induction of EPT were found to be effective against its course. In contrast, 5 mg/kg of body wt. of DXM given subcutaneously 4 h prior to EPT improved significantly both the tolerance and laboratory data of the animals. The extent of brain oedema, measured 4 h after recovery, was also considerably lowered. Actinomycin D pretreatment prevented almost completely the beneficial effect offered by DXM suggesting the involvement of newly synthesized protein(s) in the cerebroprotective effect of DXM.