[Humoral factors of regulation of water-salt metabolism in experimental traumatic brain edema].

Experiments on albino rats with experimental traumatic brain edema were made to study humoral factors of water-salt metabolism regulation: neuropeptides (vasopressin, angiotensin-II as well as aldosterone in the brain and body tissues using radioimmune analysis. Besides, the effect of natriuretic hormone on brain edema was assessed. It was established in preliminary investigations that the highest water content in the brain was recorded on the third day after the suffering of a craniocerebral injury. During the same time, the injured hemisphere showed an increase of sodium ions. The level of vasopressin in cerebral hemispheres rose whereas in the pituitary and blood plasma, it decreased. The injured hemisphere manifested a dramatic increase of angiotensin content. The craniocerebral injury gave rise to aldosterone secretion enhancement and to its elevation in the plasma and brain. The marked and non-uniform alterations in factors of water-salt metabolism and of the vascular tone regulation are important components in the pathogenesis of brain edema, which determines goal-oriented approaches to the search of agents for the treatment of the pathology under consideration.