Each year about 1.5 million people in the U.S. survive a traumatic brain injury due to a fall, car accident, or a sports injury, which can cause immediate and long-term disability.

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers wanted to better understand what happens in the brain during injury, so they conducted a study in mice to determine how different types of brain cells in mice react to severe trauma. In a new study published in the January issue of Autophagy, they found that after traumatic brain injury, the brain’s immune system cells’ internal recycling function slowed dramatically, allowing waste products to build up and interfere with recovery from injury.

The researchers also found that treating mice that had traumatic brain injury with a drug to promote cellular recycling improved the mice’s ability to recover from injury and solve a water maze, a measure of memory function in mice.

To learn more, read the full article: https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/news/2023/traumatic-brain-injury-interferes-with-immune-system-cells-recycling-process-in-brain-cells.html

From University of Maryland School of Medicine

By Vanessa McMains

Ischemic stroke, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain, is a common cause of death and disability. Treatments are urgently needed to improve patient outcomes, because recovery currently depends largely on the timely injection of a blood clot-dissolving drug. Priorities for therapy include limiting inflammation at the ischemic site and rebuilding neuronal connections damaged by the stroke. However, a molecule that can achieve these therapeutic effects has remained elusive.

In a study to be published in Stroke, researchers from Osaka University provide new hope for patients. They have identified two proteins, R-spondin 3 (RSPO3) and LGR4, that trigger a cascade of reactions in cells (i.e., a signaling pathway) to reduce inflammation in the ischemic brain. RSPO3 and LGR4 also stimulate the growth of extensions from neurons, a process called neurite outgrowth.

From News Medical

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.

To learn more, read the full article: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230511/Study-offers-hope-for-better-recovery-of-stroke-patients.aspx

Previous research links COVID-19 infection to brain issues, such as “brain fog” and neurological issues.

In a very small cadaver study, researchers from the National Institutes of Health found that antibodies created by the body in response to COVID-19 infection can cause damage to blood vessels in the brain, causing neurological symptoms.

Scientists believe the discovery of antibody-driven immune complexes on endothelial cells in the brain suggests immune-modulating therapies may help long COVID patients.

To learn more, read the full article: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/covid-19s-impact-on-the-brain-immune-response-may-cause-damage

From Medical News Today

By Corrie Pelc

Highlights

By Martin A Jonsjö ^a b f, Gunnar L Olsson ^a b, Rikard K Wicksell ^c, Kjell Alving ^d, Linda Holmström ^a e, Anna Andreasson ^f g

To learn more, read the full publication: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453019313198

US researchers say they have discovered a subtype of long COVID characterized by persistent inflammation, a finding that could help identify dominant disease pathways of diagnostic or therapeutic value.

For the ongoing study, published late last week in Nature Communications, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the Allen Institute for Immunology in Seattle assessed serum proteome (proteins) in blood samples obtained from 55 patients who reported COVID-19 symptoms lasting at least 60 days after infection in 2020. The team compared the samples with those of 24 recovered patients and 22 uninfected participants.

The study authors noted that long COVID may be caused by persistent inflammation, unresolved tissue damage, or detailed clearance of viral protein or RNA but that the biologic differences these factors represent are not well understood.

From University of Minnesota

By Mary Van Beusekom, MS

To read the full story, see here: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/researchers-identify-type-long-covid-persistent-inflammation?fbclid=IwAR3X2RrtWkV6b-ReM8911OkR8JUWB0zWuBdk5HgWHogkbJTAIdCtHsebwAc

Deprivation of brain oxygen and nutrient supply due to reduced or interrupted blood flow leads to stroke. Such condition seeks immediate medical attention; if treated promptly, brain damage and other complications arising from stroke can be prevented. Inflammation in the brain produced by the stroke is involved in every phase of stroke (acute, sub-acute, and chronic) and can exacerbate the damage and brain dysfunction caused by all types of stroke (ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke, including intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)).

There are two types of stroke: ischemic stroke – which accounts for 80% of all stroke cases, and occurs due to blockage in the arteries which supply blood to the brain; and hemorrhagic stroke – which occurs due to leaking or bursting of a blood vessel. The main signs and symptoms of stroke include speech difficulties, confusion, paralysis or numbness of the face, arm, or leg, vision problem, headache, and troubled locomotion.

Inflammation, which is body’s immune response to harmful agents/injuries, plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke. Many cells, such as white blood cells, platelets, endothelial cells, and mast cells get activated during inflammation process, and start releasing proinflammatory mediators such as histamine, prostaglandin, lysosomal compounds, and cytokines to trigger vasodilation and increase blood vessel permeability. As a result, blood supply to the injured or affected area increases, which, in turn, brings more defense cells to the affected site and triggers the healing process.

In case of ischemic stroke or brain injury due to lack of oxygen, both acute and chronic inflammatory processes get activated. Such phenomena are characterized by rapid activation of microglia (resident macrophage cells which act as the first line of defense system in the central nervous system), production of proinflammatory mediators, and infiltration of inflammatory cells such as neutrophils, T cells, macrophages, phagocytes etc. to the site of injury.

To read the full story, go here: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Inflammation-and-Stroke.aspx?fbclid=IwAR2MCV1sCQD2qzXK1IbJlUVGaXpeu4Bh7qVJ0hNXg-m9KkVmDgaiqUh6P28