Hüseyin Özevren; Sevgi Irtegün; Arzu Ekingen; Mehmet Cudi Tuncer; Ebru Gökalp Özkorkmaz; Engin Deveci &Senay Deveci

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can potentially lead to hemorrhages in all areas of the skull, which can damage cells and nerve connections. This study aims to investigate the protective effects of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (GLPS) as a antioxidant on cerebellar cell tissues after traumatic brain injury in rats. Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to TBI with a weight-drop device using 300 g- 1m weight-height impact. The groups are consisted of control, trauma, and trauma+Ganoderma lucidum groups. At seven days post-brain injury, experimental rats were decapitated after intraperitoneal administration of ketamine HCL (0.15 ml/100 g body weight). Cereballar samples were taken for histological examination or determination of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. Significant improvement was observed in cells and vascular structures of Ganoderma lucidum treated groups when compared to untreated groups. It is believed that Ganoderma lucidum may have an effect on the progression of traumatic brain injury. Ganoderma lucidum application may affect angiogenetic development in blood vessel endothelial cells, decrease inflammatory cell accumulation by affecting cytokine mechanism and may create apoptotic nerve cells and neuroprotective mechanism in glial cells.

KEY WORDS: VEGF; βcl-2; CD68, Ganoderma lucidum; Traumatic brain injury; Cerebellum; Histopathology; Rat.

ÖZEVREN, H.; IRTEGÜN, S.; EKINGEN, A.; TUNCER, M. C.; GÖKALP ÖZKORKMAZ; DEVECI, E. & DEVECI, S- Immunoexpressions of Vascular endothelial growth factor, β-cell lymphoma 2 and Cluster of Differentiation 68 in cerebellar tissue of rats treated with Ganoderma lucidum. Int. J. Morphol., 36(4) :1453-1462, 2018.