traumatic encephalopathy

INTRODUCTION: Despite improved management of traumatic brain injury (TBI), it still leads to lifelong sequelae and disability, particularly in children. Chronic neuroinflammation (the so-called tertiary phase), in particular, microglia/macrophage and astrocyte reactivity, is among the main mechanisms suspected of playing a role in the generation of lesions associated with TBI. The role of acute neuroinflammation is now well understood, but its persistent effect and impact on the brain, particularly during development, are not...

BACKGROUND: Argon (Ar) has been proposed as a potential therapeutic agent in multiple clinical conditions, specifically in organ protection. However, conflicting data on pre-clinical models, together with a great variability in Ar administration protocols and outcome assessments, have been reported. The aim of this study was to review evidence on treatment with Ar, with an extensive investigation on its neuroprotective effect, and to summarise all tested administration protocols. METHODS: Using the PubMed database, all existing pre-clinical and clinical studies on the treatment with Ar were systematically reviewed (registration: https://doi...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The consensus criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES), the possible in vivo clinical syndrome associated with significant repetitive head impacts, have only been minimally studied to date. This study examined the prevalence of the proposed core clinical features of TES in a sample of healthy adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted through ResearchMatch, a national health volunteer registry. Participants were assessed for symptoms of TES based on the 2021 consensus criteria, including prior repetitive head impacts and core clinical features...

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting millions annually worldwide. Although the majority of TBI patients return to premorbid baseline, a subset of patient can develop persistent and often debilitating neurocognitive and behavioral changes. The etiology of TBI within the clinical setting is inherently heterogenous, ranging from sport related injuries, fall related injuries and motor vehicle accidents in the civilian setting, to blast injuries in the military setting...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) has a global prevalence exceeding two million people and is a leading cause of non-traumatic physical disability. MS can be treated with ocrelizumab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. West Nile virus (WNV) is the most common cause of mosquito-borne viral encephalitis in North America. It can lead to neuroinvasive WNV disease (WNND) affecting the brain and peripheral nervous system, especially in immunocompromised patients, such as those being treated with ocrelizumab for MS...

Consensus criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) specify that at least one core clinical feature of cognitive impairment (CI; e.g., difficulties with memory, executive function) or neurobehavioral dysregulation (ND; e.g., explosiveness, rage, and mood lability) be present and not fully accounted for by other health disorders. Associations between self-reported symptoms that mirror the core clinical features of TES-and how they may be related to concomitant medical conditions-remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of medical conditions and football exposures with TES clinical features (CI+/- , ND+/- ) in 1741 former professional American-style football (ASF) players (age, 57...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of coma among patients in critical care units in Chile. We also aimed to provide insight into the demographic characteristics, etiologies, and complications associated with coma. METHODS: A single day cross-sectional study was conducted through a national survey of public and private hospitals with critical and intensive cardiac care units across Chile. Data were collected using an online questionnaire that contained questions regarding critically ill patients' information, demographic characteristics, etiology and duration of coma, medical complications, and support requirements...

The aggregation of transactive response deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) into ubiquitin-positive inclusions is closely associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The 370-375 fragment of TDP-43 (370 GNNSYS375 , TDP-43370-375 ), the amyloidogenic hexapeptides, can be prone to forming pathogenic amyloid fibrils with the characteristic of steric zippers. Previous experiments reported the ALS-associated mutation, serine 375 substituted by glycine (S375G) is linked to early onset disease and protein aggregation of TDP-43...

There are no validated diagnostic criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES). During the early and middle 20th century, TES was described as a clinical condition that was experienced by some high-exposure boxers-and it was believed to reflect chronic traumatic brain injury. Consensus criteria for the diagnosis of TES were published in 2021. We applied the consensus criteria for TES retrospectively to cases of chronic brain damage in boxers described in articles published in the 20th century that were obtained from narrative and systematic reviews...

Temperature control in severe acute brain injury (SABI) is a key component of acute management. This manuscript delves into the complex role of temperature management in SABI, encompassing conditions like traumatic brain injury (TBI), acute ischemic stroke (AIS), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), and hypoxemic/ischemic brain injury following cardiac arrest. Fever is a common complication in SABI and is linked to worse neurological outcomes due to increased inflammatory responses and intracranial pressure (ICP)...

Traumatic asphyxia (TA) is a rare condition due to severe crush injury to the upper abdomen or chest region. Elevated intrathoracic pressure causes impaired venous return, which damages the small vessels. Consciousness is reportedly lost in many TA cases. In the most severe cases, hypoxic encephalopathy occurs. Since TA patients usually have other traumatic complications such as thoracic or abdominal injury, the mortality rate of this syndrome is quite variable. Hypothermia is a risk factor for mortality in trauma patients, and targeted temperature management (TTM) is rarely performed for trauma cases...

Repetitive head impacts (RHI) sustained from contact sports are the largest risk factor for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Currently, CTE can only be diagnosed after death and the multicellular cascade of events that trigger initial hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) deposition remain unclear. Further, the symptoms endorsed by young individuals with early disease are not fully explained by the extent of p-tau deposition, severely hampering development of therapeutic interventions. Here, we show that RHI exposure associates with a multicellular response in young individuals (<51 years old) prior to the onset of CTE p-tau pathology that correlates with number of years of RHI exposure...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major global health concern and is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Repetitive TBIs (rTBIs), commonly observed in contact sports, military service, and intimate partner violence (IPV), pose a significant risk for long-term sequelae. To study the long-term consequences of TBI and rTBI, researchers have typically used mammalian models to recapitulate brain injury and neurodegenerative phenotypes...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), in any form and severity, can pose risks for developing chronic symptoms that can profoundly hinder patients' work/academic, social, and personal lives. In the past 3 decades, a multitude of pharmacological, stimulation, and exercise-based interventions have been proposed to ameliorate symptoms, memory impairment, mental fatigue, and/or sleep disturbances. However, most research is preliminary, thus limited influence on clinical practice. This review aims to systematically appraise the evidence derived from randomized controlled trials (RCT) regarding the effectiveness of pharmacological, stimulation, and exercise-based interventions in treating chronic symptoms due to TBI...

Repeated head trauma acquired through sports injuries has been associated with the development of long-term disabling symptoms that negatively impact the quality of life. In this retrospective case series, 52 male former professional athletes involved in contact sports and with a history of multiple concussions were evaluated for chronic clinical symptoms and post-mortem neuropathological diagnoses. The clinical symptoms of 19 cases were examined in greater detail for symptom type, severity and duration. Information on neurological, psychiatric and physical symptoms, substance use profiles and concussion histories was obtained from the athletes' next of kin and assessed in relation to post-mortem neuropathological diagnoses...

Soccer is one of the most popular sports worldwide, played by over 270 million people and followed by many more. Several brain health benefits are promoted by practising soccer and physical exercise at large, which helps contrast the cognitive decline associated with ageing by enhancing neurogenesis processes. However, sport-related concussions have been increasingly recognised as a pressing public health concern, not only due to their acute impact but also, more importantly, due to mounting evidence indicating an elevated risk for the development of neurological sequelae following recurrent head traumas, especially chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)...

Locus coeruleus is a small bilateral nucleus in the brainstem. It is the main source of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) throughout the central nervous system (about 70% of all norepinephrine in the central nervous system), and, as shown in numerous studies, it is involved in regulating a significant number of functions. The detailed study of the functions of the Locus Coeruleus (LC) and its significance in human life became possible only after the development of histofluorescence methods for monoamines in the 1960s...

Exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHIs) in contact sports is associated with neurodegenerative disorders including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which currently can be diagnosed only at postmortem. American football players are at higher risk of developing CTE given their exposure to RHIs. One promising approach for diagnosing CTE in vivo is to explore known neuropathological abnormalities at postmortem in living individuals using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI brain morphometry was evaluated in 170 male former American football players ages 45-74 years (n = 114 professional; n = 56 college) and 54 same-age unexposed asymptomatic male controls (n = 58 age range 45-74)...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and brain ischemia/reperfusion cause neurodegenerative processes that can continue after the acute stage with the development of severe brain atrophy with dementia. In this case, the long-term neurodegeneration of the brain is similar to the neurodegeneration characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is associated with the accumulation of beta amyloid and tau protein. In the pathogenesis of AD as well as in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia and TBI oxidative stress, progressive inflammation, glial activation, blood-brain barrier dysfunction, and excessive activation of autophagy are involved, which implies the presence of many targets that can be affected by neuroprotectors...

BACKGROUND: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a severe developmental epileptic encephalopathy, has various underlying causes. Mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I (MRC I) deficiency is an important cause of metabolic disorders such as mitochondrial dysfunction that can compromise brain function, thereby causing intractable epilepsy, including LGS. Thus, it can be expected that the presence or absence of MRC I deficiency may affect the treatment outcome of patients with LGS. OBJECTIVES: In this retrospective study, we aimed to investigate differences in the epilepsy characteristics and treatment outcomes between patients with LGS with and without MRC I deficiency...