Recently, neuronal apoptosis has been demonstrated following traumatic brain injury in the rat. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate neuronal death by apoptosis in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury. Methods:C-57 male mice were subject to a deceleration-impact brain injury at the vertex of the skull at forces of 900 (n=9), 1000 (n+8) and 1100(n=4) gm-cm, or sham procedure (n=5). The animals were sacrificed and the brains removed at 24 hours post injury. Coronal sections were obtained at the level of the optic chiasm. In situ end-labelling and routine histochemical staining (H&E) were performed on the brain sections. Results:In situ end-labelling demonstrated the presence of neuronal apoptotic bodies in injured mouse cortex and dentate gyrus particularly in areas adjacent to traumatic shear injury. This was present in all trauma groups. There were no apoptotic bodies demonstrated in the brains of control mice.

Conclusion: Neuronal apoptosis was demonstrated by in situ end-labelling in mice subjected to traumatic brain injury. This model will be used to quantify the effect of over expression of anti-apoptotic genes on neuronal death following traumatic brain injury.