Determination of brain water content
To measure the brain edema, the brain water content was determined as the animal was anesthetized and the brain was extracted 8 days after ulcer induction. The weight of wet tissue was measured first and then incubated in 60 °C in an incubator (Memmert, Germany) for 72 hours to evaporate the tissue water and become dry. The brain was weighed again after drying and water content was calculated by % using formula (O’Connor, 2005 ▶).
% Water content=[(wet weight−dry weight)(wet weight)]×100
Determination of duodenal water content
Representive sections of small intestine (duodenal part) were obtained, and their contents were removed. Wet weights of the intestinal walls were determined, then the samples were dried in a vacuum oven for 48 h at 60°C and weighted immediately to determine the dry weights. Water content of duodenum was calculated by % using formula (AkhtarS, 2009 ▶).
% Water content=[(wet weight−dry weight)(wet weight)]×100
Statistical analysis
SPSS 15 was used for statistical analysis. Each parameter was expressed as mean±SEM, and compared using one-way ANOVA analysis of variance, followed by a Tukey’s post-hoc test. Differences between the mean were considered statistically significant when p