Journal of neurotrauma
-
Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
Combination of temperature-sensitive stem cells and mild hypothermia: a new potential therapy for severe traumatic brain injury.
Stem cell transplantation holds great potential for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the micro-environment of reduced oxygen and accumulated toxins leads to low survival rates of grafted cells, which dramatically limits their clinical application. Mild hypothermia has been demonstrated to improve the micro-environment after severe TBI. ⋯ We found that, compared with UCSMC or tsUCSMC treatment alone, their combination with hypothermia could significantly improve motor and cognitive function with more survival of the grafted cells. Furthermore, we observed that combined therapy with hypothermia and tsUCSMCs exerted the most protective effect on the recovery of neurological function of all the tested treatments, with the highest survival and proliferation rates, and the lowest apoptosis rate. Thus this may represent a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of severe TBI.
-
Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
A CD11d monoclonal antibody treatment reduces tissue injury and improves neurological outcome after fluid percussion brain injury in rats.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an international health concern often resulting in chronic neurological abnormalities, including cognitive deficits, emotional disturbances, and motor impairments. An anti-CD11d monoclonal antibody that blocks the CD11d/CD18 integrin and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 interaction following experimental spinal cord injury improves functional recovery, while reducing the intraspinal number of neutrophils and macrophages, oxidative activity, and tissue damage. Since the mechanisms of secondary injury in the brain and spinal cord are similar, we designed a study to evaluate fully the effects of anti-CD11d treatment after a moderate lateral fluid percussion TBI in the rat. ⋯ At 24 h, the anti-CD11d group performed significantly better than the 1B7 controls on several water maze measures of spatial cognition. At 4 weeks post-injury the anti-CD11d-treated rats had better sensorimotor function as assessed by the beam task, and reduced anxiety-like behaviors, as evidenced by elevated-plus maze testing, compared to 1B7 controls. These findings suggest that neuroinflammation is associated with behavioral deficits after TBI, and that anti-CD11d antibody treatment is a viable strategy to improve neurological outcomes after TBI.
-
Journal of neurotrauma · Sep 2012
Thalamus and cognitive impairment in mild traumatic brain injury: a diffusional kurtosis imaging study.
Conventional imaging is unable to detect damage that accounts for permanent cognitive impairment in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). While diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can help to detect diffuse axonal injury (DAI), it is a limited indicator of tissue complexity. It has also been suggested that the thalamus may play an important role in the development of clinical sequelae in mTBI. ⋯ Cognitive impairment was correlated with MK in the thalamus and the internal capsule. These findings suggest that combined use of DTI and DKI provides a more sensitive tool for identifying brain injury. In addition, MK in the thalamus might be useful for early prediction of permanent brain damage and cognitive outcome.