• Hao Xu, Guowei Tan, Shaolin Zhang, Hongwei Zhu, Feng Liu, Caiquan Huang, Feifei Zhang, and Zhanxiang Wang.
• Department of Neurosurgery, First Affiliate Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province 361003, China.
• Bmc Neurosci. 2012 Jan 1;13:148.

BackgroundReactive gliosis had been implicated in injury and recovery patterns associated with hydrocephalus. Our aim is to determine the efficacy of minocycline, an antibiotic known for its anti-inflammatory properties, to reduce reactive gliosis and inhibit the development of hydrocephalus.ResultsThe ventricular dilatation were evaluated by MRI at 1-week post drugs treated, while GFAP and Iba-1were detected by RT-PCR, Immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The expression of GFAP and Iba-1 was significantly higher in hydrocephalic group compared with saline control group (p < 0.05). Minocycline treatment of hydrocephalic animals reduced the expression of GFAP and Iba-1 significantly (p < 0.05). Likewise, the severity of ventricular dilatation is lower in minocycline treated hydrocephalic animals compared with the no minocycline group (p < 0.05).ConclusionMinocycline treatment is effective in reducing the gliosis and delaying the development of hydrocephalus with prospective to be the auxiliary therapeutic method of hydrocephalus.

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