FIGURE 1.

DFU treatment initiated before or after injury improved functional recovery after TBI. A, neuroscore: injured/vehicle-treated animals scored significantly lower compared with shams (19.3 ± 0.3 versus 22.4 ± 0.7 [dashed line]; P < 0.05, Scheffé’s test). Injured/DFU-treated animals improved their neuroscore compared with injured/vehicle-treated animals (P < 0.01, Dunnett’s test, except the 10 mg/kg pretreatment group). This improvement occurred even when the first dose of DFU was administered 2 to 6 hours after the injury. Neuroscore consisted of forelimb flexion, hindlimb extension, and lateral pulsion (see Materials and Methods). B, water maze difference scores were improved in the high-dose DFU groups, even when treatment was initiated 2 to 6 hours after injury. Sham: vehicle-treated and surgery, no injury (n = 15); vehicle: injured/vehicle-treated (n = 55); 1DFU/Pre: injured, 1 mg/kg DFU initiated 10 minutes before surgery (n = 15); 1DFU/2 hours: injured, 1 mg/kg DFU initiated 2 hours after injury (n = 13); 1DFU/6 hours: injured, 1 mg/kg DFU initiated 6 hours after injury (n = 13); 10DFU/Pre: injured, 10 mg/kg DFU initiated 10 minutes before surgery (n = 12); 10DFU/2 hours: injured, 10 mg/kg DFU initiated 2 hours after injury (n = 12); and 10DFU/6 hours: injured, 10 mg/kg DFU initiated 6 hours after injury (n = 12). Results are mean ± standard error of the mean; gray boxes represent the 99% confidence interval. *, P < 0.05, Dunnett’s test; **, P < 0.01, Dunnett’s test.