Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 21 pp 21687—21705

Dexmedetomidine inhibits inflammatory response and autophagy through the circLrp1b/miR-27a-3p/Dram2 pathway in a rat model of traumatic brain injury

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Figure 5. Restoration of Dram2 abolishes the effects of circLrp1b knockdown in traumatic brain injury-induced neurological outcome. Rats were administered intracerebroventricular injection of lentivirus vectors of sh-circLrp1b and Dram2 before traumatic brain injury induction, followed by intraperitoneal injection of 20 μg/kg dexmedetomidine (DEX). (A) Representative track plots of animal paths in the place navigation task and spatial probe task of the Morris water maze test in rats from different groups. (B, C) Quantification of the latency time and the number of crossing were recorded. (D) Analysis of the modified Neurological Severity Score (mNSS). (E) Calculation of the brain water content was calculated as described in the Materials and Methods section. Each experiment was repeated 6 times. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, compared with NC; #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01, compared with sh-circLrp1b + vector; &p < 0.05, &&p < 0.01, compared with sh-circLrp1b + Dram2. Representative 400× images of the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained (F) and Nissl-stained (G) hippocampal sections obtained from the experimental groups. Scale bar: 50 μm.