{"id":13638,"date":"2025-02-26T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=13638"},"modified":"2025-02-20T03:17:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T03:17:59","slug":"traumatic-brain-injury-antioxidant-material-reduces-damage-february-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/traumatic-brain-injury-antioxidant-material-reduces-damage-february-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Traumatic brain injuries have toxic effects that last weeks after initial impact \u2212 an antioxidant material reduces this damage in mice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Brain damage can release harmful chemicals such as free radicals that cause further damage.\n fatido\/E+ via Getty Images<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Aaron Priester<\/a>, Missouri University of Science and Technology<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Traumatic brain injury<\/a> is a leading cause of death and disability<\/a> in the world. Blunt force trauma to the brain, often from a bad fall or traffic accident, accounts for the deaths of over 61,000 Americans<\/a> each year. Over 80,000 will develop some long-term disability.<\/p>\n\n

While much of the physical brain damage occurs instantly \u2013 called the primary stage of injury \u2013 additional brain damage can result from the destructive chemical processes that arise in the body minutes to days to weeks following initial impact. Unlike the primary stage of injury, this secondary stage<\/a> could potentially be prevented by targeting the molecules driving damage. <\/p>\n\n

I am a materials science engineer<\/a>, and my colleagues and I are working to design treatments to neutralize the harm of secondary traumatic brain injury and reduce neurodegeneration. We designed a new material<\/a> that could target and neutralize brain-damaging molecules<\/a> in mice, improving their cognitive recovery and offering a potential new treatment for people.<\/p>\n\n

Biochemical fallout<\/h2>\n\n

The primary stage of traumatic brain injury can severely damage and even destroy the blood-brain barrier<\/a> \u2013 an interface protecting the brain by limiting what can enter it.<\/p>\n\n

Disruption of this barrier triggers damaged neurons or the immune system to release certain chemicals that result in destructive biochemical processes. One process called excitotoxicity<\/a> occurs when too many calcium ions are allowed into neurons, activating enzymes that fragment DNA and damage cells, causing death. Another process, neuroinflammation<\/a>, results from the activation of cells called microglia<\/a> that can trigger inflammation in damaged areas of the brain.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"MRI<\/a>\n
\n Traumatic brain injury can result in long-term damage.<\/span>\n stockdevil\/iStock via Getty Images Plus<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

These secondary phase processes also produce harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species<\/a>. These molecules, which include free radicals, chemically modify and deform essential proteins in cells, rendering them useless. They can also break DNA strands, leading to potentially damaging genetic mutations. <\/p>\n\n

If left unchecked, harm from this oxidative stress<\/a> can have devastating consequences for long-term health and neurocognitive recovery. Researchers have linked the biochemical changes and byproducts resulting from this cascade of damaging molecules to the development of long-term neurological disorders such as Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a>, Parkinson\u2019s<\/a> and ALS<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n\n

However, compounds called antioxidants<\/a> can target this oxidative stress and improve long-term neurocognitive recovery by chemically interacting with reactive oxygen species in a way that can neutralize their damaging properties.<\/p>\n\n

Finding the ideal antioxidant<\/h2>\n\n

My team and I studied whether an antioxidant called a thiol group<\/a> could help treat traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n\n

Thiol groups are chemical compounds that contain a sulfur atom bound to a hydrogen atom. Sulfur atoms are much larger than hydrogen atoms, which means the sulfur atom in a thiol has a strong pull on a hydrogen atom\u2019s lone electron. This weakens the bond between the hydrogen and its electron, allowing the hydrogen to easily give up its electron<\/a> to other atoms. <\/p>\n\n

As a result, thiols readily interact<\/a> with many different reactive oxygen species, including the ones that damage DNA. We chose thiols not only for their antioxiant properties, but also for their ability to bind to and neutralize other brain-damaging molecules called lipid peroxidation products<\/a>. These neurotoxic compounds are formed as byproducts when reactive oxygen species damage fats in the body. <\/p>\n\n

To get these thiols into the body, we incorporated them into materials called polymers<\/a>. These are long chains of organic molecules made of individual units called monomers. To get the monomers to link together, a lone electron \u2013 or free radical \u2013 initiates a bond with a monomer, triggering a chain reaction. Think of this process like knocking down a series of dominoes: The push of your hand (the free radical in this instance) hits a domino (the monomer) and subsequently knocks down the rest of the dominoes to form a line (the polymer). <\/p>\n\n

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