Effects of nimodipine on tissue lactate and malondialdehyde levels in experimental head trauma

We studied the effects of nimodipine on brain tissue lactate and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels one hour after experimental head trauma in 25 New Zealand rabbits. Group 1 (n=5) was the sham operated group. Group 2 (n = 10) received head trauma without treatment and in group 3 (n=10) nimodipine was administered for 30 minutes intravenously (2 μg/kg/min) immediately after head trauma. In groups 2 and 3, tissue samples from the non-traumatized side was named as "a" and traumatized side as "b". The lactate and malondialdehyde contents were significantly higher in groups 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b when compared with to group 1 (P<0.05). The differences between non-treated groups (2a, 2b) and nimodipine treated groups (3a, 3b) were not significant (P>0.05). The differences between the traumatized sides (2b, 3b) and non-traumatized sides (2a, 3a) were significant (P<0.05). These results demonstrated that nimodipine is ineffective in suppressing the increase of tissue lactate and malondialdehyde levels in the early period of experimental head trauma.