Acta neurochirurgica. Supplement
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Acta Neurochir. Suppl. · Jan 2011
Mucosal tolerance to brain antigens preserves endogenous TGFβ-1 and improves neurological outcomes following experimental craniotomy.
Intracranial surgery causes brain damage from cortical incisions, intraoperative hemorrhage, retraction, and electrocautery; collectively these injuries have recently been coined surgical brain injury (SBI). Inflammation following SBI contributes to neuronal damage. This study develops T-cells that are immunologically tolerant to brain antigen via the exposure of myelin basic protein (MBP) to airway mucosa. ⋯ Animals tolerized to MBP (SBI+MBP) had better postoperative neurological scores than SBI+Vehicle and SBI+OVA. SBI inhibited the cerebral expression TGFβ1 in PBS and OVA treated groups, whereas MBP treated-animals preserved preoperative levels. Mucosal tolerance to MBP leads to significant improvement in neurological outcome that is associated with the preservation of endogenous levels of brain TGFβ1.