Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jan 2015
Clinical TrialOutcome Prediction After Mild and Complicated Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: External Validation of Existing Models and Identification of New Predictors Using the TRACK-TBI Pilot Study.
Although the majority of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) recover completely, some still suffer from disabling ailments at 3 or 6 months. We validated existing prognostic models for mTBI and explored predictors of poor outcome after mTBI. We selected patients with mTBI from TRACK-TBI Pilot, an unselected observational cohort of TBI patients from three centers in the United States. ⋯ Our study shows that, for mTBI, different predictors are relevant as for moderate and severe TBI. These include age, pre-existing psychiatric conditions, and lower education. Development of a valid prediction model for mTBI patients requires further research efforts.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jan 2015
Social and behavioral outcomes: Pre-injury to 6 months following childhood traumatic brain injury.
This study aimed to extend the limited research investigating social and behavioral outcomes following childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study compared pre-and post-injury measures of these skills and investigated the role of pre-injury child status and pre-injury family functioning in the prediction of outcome at six months post-injury. A secondary aim was to compare rates of impairment at six months post-injury between children post-TBI and a typically developing (TD) control group. ⋯ Pre-injury function, injury severity and restrictions to social participation (e.g., reduced sport activities) as recommended by clinicians contributed significantly to outcome. Difficulties are evident in the short-term post-childhood TBI in social and behavioral domains. It is essential to monitor children long-term, particularly as societal expectations and demands increase.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jan 2015
Altered regulation of protein kinase A activity in the medial prefrontal cortex of normal and brain injured animals actively engaged in a working memory task.
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) signaling is required for short- and long-term memory. In contrast, enhanced PKA activity has been shown to impair working memory, a prefrontal cortex (PFC)-dependent, transient form of memory critical for cognition and goal-directed behaviors. Working memory can be impaired after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the absence of overt damage to the PFC. ⋯ Inhibition of PKA activity by intra-mPFC administration of Rp-cAMPS into TBI animals had no influence on working memory performance 30 min postinfusion, but significantly improved working memory when tested 24 h later. This improvement was associated with reduced glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 messenger RNA levels. Taken together, these results suggest that TBI-associated working memory dysfunction may result, in part, from enhanced PKA activity, possibly leading to altered expression of plasticity-related genes in the mPFC.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jan 2015
GENETIC ACTIVATION OF mTORC1 SIGNALING WORSENS NEUROCOGNITIVE OUTCOME AFTER TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.
Although the mechanisms that contribute to the development of traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related deficits are not fully understood, it has been proposed that altered energy utilization may be a contributing factor. The tuberous sclerosis complex, a heterodimer composed of hamartin/Tsc-1 and tuberin/Tsc-2, is a critical regulatory node that integrates nutritional and growth signals to govern energy using processes by regulating the activity of mechanistic Target of Rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). mTORC1 activation results in enhanced protein synthesis, an energy consuming process. ⋯ This enhanced level of increased mTORC1 activity was associated with worsened cognitive function as assessed using the Morris water maze and context discrimination tasks. These results suggest that there is a threshold of increased mTORC1 activity after a TBI that is detrimental to neurobehavioral performance, and interventions to inhibit excessive mTORC1 activation may be beneficial to neurocognitive outcome.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Jan 2015
ACUTE ALCOHOL INTOXICATION AND LONG-TERM OUTCOME IN PATIENTS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.
The effect of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is controversial. We sought to assess the independent effect of positive BAC on long-term outcome in patients with TBI treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). We performed a retrospective analysis of 405 patients with TBI, admitted to the ICU of a large urban Level 1 trauma center between January 2009 and December 2012. ⋯ Furthermore, a trend towards reduced risk of six-month unfavorable neurological outcome for patients with positive BAC, compared to patients with negative BAC, was noted, although this did not reach statistical significance (low BAC AOR 0.65, 95% CI 0.34-1.22, p=0.178, and high BAC AOR 0.59, 95% CI 0.32-1.09, p=0.089). In conclusion, low admission BAC (<2.3‰) was found to independently reduce risk of six-month mortality for patients with TBI, and a trend towards improved long-term neurological outcome was found for BAC-positive patients. The role of alcohol as a neuroprotective agent warrants further studies.