Chinese Researchers show Neuroprotective Effects of Progesterone in TBI
Another study from a research team consisting of members from Hangzhou Normal University and Zhejiang University in Hangzhou in China has found the neuroprotective effects of using progesterone to treat Traumatic Brain Injury. The study was published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Critical Care. The Chinese researchers studied 159 patients with acute TBI in a random and double-blind trial where approximately half the patients received progesterone and the other half a placebo for five day after the injury. “Although previous studies in animal suggest that progesterone may mitigate the severity of brain damage, there is no information about therapeutic benefit of post-TBI progesterone injections in the patients with severe brain trauma” said supervising professor Weiqi Yan. “Our work was to determine if progesterone improve chances for recovery in patients with severe injuries in a longer-term”. At three and six month evaluations after treatment, significantly more patients given progesterone had favorable outcomes compared to patients given a placebo. The researchers also found that progesterone treatments were also linked to the increase in survival at six months. Additionally, no adverse events or complications were experienced by the patients given the hormone. “We found encouraging evidence that progesterone may significantly improve 6-month neurologic outcome of the patients who were enrolled with acute severe TBI” according to lead author, Dr Giomin Xiao. “Our results provide information important for further multicenter clinical trials on progesterone as a promising neuroprotective drug”.
