Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Mar 2004
Induction of the stress response after inflicted and non-inflicted traumatic brain injury in infants and children.
Rapid induction of 72-kD heat shock protein (Hsp70) is a key component of the stress response and is seen after a variety of insults to the brain including experimental hyperthermia, ischemia, seizures, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Little is known about the endogenous stress response in pediatric patients after brain injury. Accordingly, the concentration of Hsp70 was determined in 61 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 20 infants and children after TBI. ⋯ These data suggest that the endogenous stress response, as measured and quantified by the Hsp70 concentration in CSF, occurs in infants and children after TBI. The endogenous stress response is more robust in victims of child abuse, compared with patients with accidental TBI, supporting age-dependence or a difference in either injury frequency, duration, severity, or mechanism in this subgroup of TBI patients. Further studies are needed to determine the role of Hsp70 in both non-inflicted and inflicted TBI in infants and children.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Mar 2004
Subventricular zone neural stem cells remodel the brain following traumatic injury in adult mice.
Neural stem cells have recently been shown to contribute to the cellular remodeling that occurs following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Potential sources for these stem cells from within the brain include the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. Using intraventricular injections of the fluorescent vital dye DiO in mice, we demonstrate that the subventricular zone population of stem cells can be reliably labeled and followed over time. ⋯ Using doublelabeling immunohistochemistry with anti-nestin, anti-GFAP, and anti-NeuN antibodies we demonstrate that labeled cells from the subventricular zone contribute primarily to the astroglial scar following injury. We do not observe any contribution to deeper areas of injury including the hippocampus. These data demonstrate that the subventricular zone contributes to brain remodeling following TBI, though neural stem cell sources outside the subventricular zone appear to play reparative roles as well.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2004
Alcohol abuse and traumatic brain injury: quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological outcome.
Prior or concurrent alcohol use at the time of traumatic brain injury (TBI) was examined in terms of post-injury atrophic changes measured by quantitative analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological outcome. Two groups of TBI subjects were examined: those with a clinically significant blood alcohol level (BAL) present at the time of injury (TBI + BAL) and those without a significant BAL (TBI-only). To explore the potential impact of both acute and chronic alcohol use, subjects in both groups were further clustered into one of four subgroups (NONE, MILD, MODERATE or HEAVY) based upon available information regarding their pre-injury alcohol use. ⋯ Increased general atrophy was observed in patients with (a) a positive BAL and/or (b) a history of moderate to heavy pre-injury alcohol use. In addition, performance on neuropsychological outcome variables (WAIS-R and WMS-R Index scores) was generally worse in the subgroups of patients with positive BAL and a history of preinjury alcohol use, as compared to the other TBI groups though not statistically significant. Implications of alcohol use, at the time of brain injury, are discussed.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2004
Transplantation of neuronal and glial precursors dramatically improves sensorimotor function but not cognitive function in the traumatically injured brain.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells have been investigated in various animal models of neurodegenerative disease; however, few studies have examined the ability of ES cells to improve functional outcome following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The purpose of the present study was to examine the ability of pre-differentiated murine ES cells (neuronal and glial precursors) to improve functional outcome. Rats were prepared with a unilateral controlled cortical impact injury or sham and then transplanted 7 days later with 100K ES cells (WW6G) (~30% neurons) or media. ⋯ It was found that transplantation of ES cells prevented the occurrence of multiple small necrotic cavities that were seen in the cortex adjacent to the lesion cavity in media transplanted rats. Additionally, ES cells transplants also significantly reduced lesion size. Results of this study suggest that ES cells that have been pre-differentiated into neuronal precursors prior to transplantation have therapeutic potential.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Feb 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialRelationships between cerebrospinal fluid markers of excitotoxicity, ischemia, and oxidative damage after severe TBI: the impact of gender, age, and hypothermia.
Excitotoxicity and ischemia can result in oxidative stress after TBI. Female sex hormones are hypothesized to be neuroprotective after TBI by affecting multiple mechanisms of secondary injury, including oxidative damage, excitotoxicity and ischemia. Ca2+ mediated oxidative stress increases with age, and hypothermia is known to attenuate secondary injury. ⋯ These results indicate that females have smaller oxidative damage loads than males for a given excitotoxic or ischemic insult and female gonadal hormones may play a role in mediating this neuroprotective effect. These results also suggest that susceptibility to glutamate mediated oxidative damage increases with age and that hypothermia differentially attenuates CSF glutamate versus F2-isoprostane production. Gender and age differences in TBI pathophysiology should be considered when conducting clinical trials in TBI.