Influence of enriched rehabilitation training on cognitive function and serum glutamate in patients with traumatic brain injury

Objective  To explore the influence of enriched rehabilitation training on cognitive function and serum glutamate in patients with traumatic brain injury.

Methods  Thirty patients with cognitive dysfunction after traumatic brain injury were selected as observation group, and another 30 normal people were selected as control group. The control group was not given any drug treatment and training, while the observation group was given routine drug treatment and enriched rehabilitation training once per day, and 6 days in a week for 8 weeks. Before and after treatment, score of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), score of Symbol Digit Pattern Test (SDMT) and part B of the Trail Making Test (TMT-B) as well as levels of serum glutamate, malondialdehyde and tumor necrosis factor were compared between two groups.

Results  Before treatment, the MoCA score and SDMT score in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group, while the TMT-B was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05); after treatment, the MoCA score, SDMT score and TMT-B in the observation group were significantly improved, but the MoCA score and SDMT score were still significantly lower than those in the control group, and TMT-B was still significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Before treatment, the levels of serum glutamate, malondialdehyde and tumor necrosis factor in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05); after treatment, the levels of serum glutamate, malondialdehyde and tumor necrosis factor in the observation group reduced significantly, but were still significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion  Enriched rehabilitation training can promote the recovery of cognitive function in patients with traumatic brain injury, and its mechanism may be related to the effective reduction of abnormally elevated serum glutamate level after brain injury, and the alleviation of oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction.