Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2019
Prophylaxis pharmacotherapy to prevent the onset of post traumatic brain injury depression: a systematic review.
Depression is a common psychiatric problem following traumatic brain injury (TBI) with reported prevalence rates of 30-77% in the first year post-TBI. Given the negative influence of post-TBI depression on cognition and interpersonal, social, physical, and occupational functioning, early initiation of pharmacotherapy to prevent post-TBI depression has been considered. This systematic review will synthesize the available evidence from published studies on the effectiveness and harms of pharmacotherapy for the secondary prevention of post-TBI depression. ⋯ In the absence of tolerability data, existing data are insufficient to recommend sertraline prophylaxis. Optimal timing and treatment duration with identification of patients most likely to benefit from prophylaxis require further consideration. Dedicated prospective studies assessing the effects of beta-blockers and statins on post-TBI depression are required.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2019
Biomechanics of Acute Subdural Hematoma in the Elderly: A Fluid-Structure Interaction Study.
Acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) caused by bridging vein (BV) rupture is a frequent and lethal brain injury, especially in the elderly. Brain atrophy has been hypothesized to be a primary pathogenesis associated with the increased risk of ASDH in the elderly. Although decades of biomechanical endeavors have been made to elucidate the potential mechanisms, a thorough explanation for this hypothesis appears lacking. ⋯ Models with various degrees of atrophied brains and thereby different subarachnoid thicknesses are generated and subsequently exposed to experimentally determined loadings known to cause ASDH or not. The results show significant increases in the cortical relative motion and BV strain in the atrophied brain, which consequently exacerbates the ASDH risk in the elderly. Results of this study are suggested to be considered when developing age-adapted protecting strategies for the elderly in the future.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2019
In silico model of critical cerebral oxygenation after traumatic brain injury: Implications for rescuing hypoxic tissue.
Cerebral oxygen delivery is central to the modern intensive care of patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Low brain tissue oxygen tension (PbtO2) results from microvascular collapse and diffusion limitation and is associated with adverse outcome. A number of therapies to improve oxygen delivery are known to be effective in improving PbtO2. ⋯ We found that increasing cerebral blood flow/blood oxygen content or suppressing the cerebral metabolic rate were most effective at improving PbtO2 and reduced the hypoxic fraction. Within the limitations of our modeling assumptions, increasing the arterial oxygen partial pressure was less effective and only improved PbtO2 by creating a region of hyperoxic tissue with no improvement in hypoxic fraction. The in silico simulations can be useful in understanding the likely physiological effect of complex treatments for which measurement techniques do not exist.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2019
Carnosic acid improves outcome after repetitive mild traumatic brain injury.
In the majority of cases, the cognitive and behavioral impairments resulting from a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) (also referred to as concussion) wane within days to weeks. In contrast, these impairments can persist for months to years after repetitive mild TBI (rmTBI). The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these impairments are not well understood. ⋯ These impairments occurred in the absence of visible neuronal or dendritic loss. Post-rmTBI administration of CA significantly improved motor and cognitive function, and decreased Gfap and Iba1 immunoreactivities within white matter tracks. Taken together, these results show that rmTBI can cause cognitive impairments in the absence of overt neuronal pathologies, and post-injury treatment with CA can lessen some of these impairments.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jul 2019
Multifocal Neuronal Ultrastructural Abnormalities and Synaptic Alterations in Mice after Low-Intensity Blast Exposure.
Service members during military actions or combat training are exposed frequently to primary blast generated by explosive weaponry. The majority of military-related neurotrauma are classified as mild and designated as "invisible injuries" that are prevalent during current conflicts. While the previous experimental blast injury studies using moderate- to high-intensity exposures focused mainly on gross and microscopic neuropathology, our previous studies have shown that low-intensity blast (LIB) exposures resulted in nanoscale subcellular myelin and mitochondrial damages and subsequent behavioral disorders in the absence of gross or detectable cellular damage. ⋯ In addition, we observed a significant increase in protein levels of PSD95 and synaptophysin mainly at seven DPI indicating potential synaptic reorganization. These results demonstrated that a single LIB exposure can lead to ultrastructural brain injury with accompanying multi-focal neuronal organelle alterations. This pre-clinical study provides key insights into disease pathogenesis related to primary blast exposure.