Acute Treatment with Fucoidan Ameliorates Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Neurological Damages and Memory Deficits in Rats: Role of BBB Integrity, Microglial Activity, Neuroinflammation, and Oxidative Stress

There is no acquiesced remedy for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI)-associated impairment, especially cognitive decline. The first 24 h after TBI is a golden time for preventing the progress of the impairments. The present study aimed to examine the acute effects of fucoidan on neurological outcomes and memory performance and investigate its potential mechanisms in rats with TBI. Fucoidan (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected immediately after TBI induction. Veterinary coma scale (VCS), brain edema, blood–brain barrier (BBB) integrity, passive avoidance memory and spatial memory, neuroplasticity, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, oxidative stress, and histological alteration were evaluated after TBI induction and fucoidan treatment. The findings revealed that TBI resulted in an enhancement in brain water content and BBB permeability and diminished the performance of passive avoidance memory and spatial memory. These were accompanied by long-term potentiation (LTP) suppression in the hippocampus and the prevention of activities of SOD, catalase, and GPx and enhancement of MPO activity, TNF-α, IL-6, and lipid peroxidation levels in the hippocampus as well as hippocampal neuronal loss. Fascinatingly, acute treatment of TBI rats with fucoidan especially in the higher doses (50 and 100 mg/kg) significantly ameliorated (p < 0.05) neurological outcomes of VCS, cerebral edema, BBB integrity, passive avoidance memory, spatial memory, LTP impairment, and oxidative-antioxidative balance. Also, fucoidan significantly ameliorated hippocampal neuronal loss, TNF-α and IL-6 levels, and MPO activity as an indicator of microglial activation. These outcomes imply that fucoidan can be a hopeful remedy for TBI-associated neuronal impairments. However, further research is necessary to endorse this issue.