Delayed glucose treatment improves cognitive function following fluid-percussion injury

Experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in marked neurochemical and metabolic changes. Research has demonstrated that after the initial insult the brain undergoes an immediate state of hypermetabolism followed by a sustained period of hypometabolism. The altered extra- and intracellular environment can compromise neuronal performance and limit functional recovery. If brain metabolism is depressed chronically after TBI, then interventions that are designed to increase metabolism may be beneficial to outcome. Glucose treatment has been shown to improve cognition in many populations, particularly those with cognitive deficits. The following experiments examined the effects of delayed postinjury glucose supplementation on cognitive function following TBI. Male Sprague–Dawley rats received either sham or lateral fluid-percussion (LFP) injury. Cognitive functioning was assessed with the Morris water maze (MWM) on postinjury days 11–15. In the first experiment, saline or 100 mg/kg glucose was administered 10 min before cognition assessment. Injured animals treated with glucose displayed significantly shorter latencies to reach the goal platform compared to injured saline-treated animals. Glucose had no effect on sham-injured rats. In the second experiment, injured rats were given daily injections of saline or 100 mg/kg glucose for 10 days beginning 24 h after injury. Rats were then tested in the MWM on days 11–15 without glucose or saline treatment. In this experiment, glucose treatment did not affect MWM performance. These data provide evidence that the chronic energy supplementation after TBI improves outcome when administered shortly before cognitive assessment.