Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyNO-Synthase Inhibition with the Antipterin VAS203 improves Outcome in moderate and severe Traumatic Brain Injury: a Placebo-Controlled Randomised Phase II Trial (NOSTRA).
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important cause of death and disability. Safety and pharmacodynamics of 4-amino-tetrahydrobiopterin (VAS203), a nitric oxide (NO)-synthase inhibitor, were assessed in TBI in an exploratory Phase IIa study (NOSynthase Inhibition in TRAumatic brain injury=NOSTRA). The study included 32 patients with TBI in six European centers. ⋯ At the highest dose administered, four of eight patients receiving VAS203 showed transitory acute kidney injury (stage 2-3). In conclusion, the significant improvement in clinical outcome indicates VAS203-mediated neuroprotection after TBI. At the highest dose, VAS203 is associated with a risk of acute kidney injury.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Oct 2014
Anesthesia for euthanasia influences mRNA expression in healthy mice and after traumatic brain injury.
Tissue sampling for gene expression analysis is usually performed under general anesthesia. Anesthetics are known to modulate hemodynamics, receptor-mediated signaling cascades, and outcome parameters. The present study determined the influence of anesthetic paradigms typically used for euthanization and tissue sampling on cerebral mRNA expression in mice. ⋯ Effects were independent of absolute mRNA copy numbers. The data demonstrate that a few minutes of anesthesia before tissue sampling are sufficient to induce immediate mRNA changes, which seem to predominate in the early-regulated gene cluster. Anesthesia-related effects on gene expression might explain limited reproduciblity of real-time PCR data between studies or research groups and should therefore be considered for quantitative PCR data.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Oct 2014
Elevated cell-free plasma DNA level as an independent predictor of mortality in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
Trauma is the leading cause of death in individuals less than 45 years old worldwide, and up to 50% of trauma fatalities are because of brain injury. Prediction of outcome is one of the major problems associated with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), and research efforts have focused on the investigation of biomarkers with prognostic value after TBI. Therefore, our aim was to investigate whether cell-free DNA concentrations correlated to short-term primary outcome (survival or death) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores after severe TBI. ⋯ Plasma DNA concentrations at the chosen cutoff point (≥171,381 kilogenomes-equivalents/L) predicted mortality with a specificity of 90% and a sensitivity of 43%. Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated plasma DNA levels were independently associated with death (p<0.001). In conclusion, high cell-free DNA concentration was a predictor of short-term mortality after severe TBI.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Oct 2014
Systemic Platelet Dysfunction is the Result of Local Dysregulated Coagulation and Platelet Activation in the Brain in a Rat Model of Isolated Traumatic Brain Injury.
Coagulopathy after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been extensively reported. Clinical studies have identified a strong relationship between diminished platelet-rich thrombus formation, responsiveness to adenosine diphosphate agonism, and severity of TBI. ⋯ Using immunohistochemical techniques and thromboelastography platelet mapping, the current study demonstrated that the expression of coagulation (tissue factor and fibrin) and platelet activation (P-selectin) markers in the injured brain paralleled the alteration in systemic platelet responsiveness to the agonists, adenosine diphosphate and arachodonic acid. Results of this study demonstrate that local procoagulant changes in the injured brain have profound effects on systemic platelet function.