Investigating the activity of alpha-synuclein protein in determining neuronal damage in rats with experimental head trauma

The aim of our study is to investigate the diagnostic value of alpha-synuclein level in serum samples taken from rats in a head trauma model in which mild traumatic brain injury was created experimentally to demonstrate acute traumatic brain injury. A total of 40 adult Sprague-Dawley rats were used in our study. The subjects were divided in to 5 groups; control group (n=8) and 4 separate experimental groups (n=8). The model described by Marmarou et al. was modified and applied in our study. In this model, we aimed at creating a trauma of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 Newtons respectively, by releasing balls of different heights and different weights using the free fall method. The level of α-syn was investigated in blood samples taken from the heart of rats 2 hours after induction of trauma. When compared to the control group, a decrese in α-syn levels was observed in groups with trauma severity of 0.05 and 0.2 Newton. α-Syn levels in the group with more severe trauma (0.2 Newton) was found to be significantly lower than the group with least trauma (0.05 Newton). Consequently, there was no significant increase in α-syn levels in blood samples taken at the second hour from rats with different severity of head trauma. On the contrary, a decrease was observed in the two trauma groups compared to the control group. These results suggest that α-syn levels measured from blood samples taken at the second hour after head trauma is not diagnostically effective in the early period of TBI.