Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is immediate damage caused by a blow to the head resulting from traffic accidents, falls, and sporting activity, which causes death or serious disabilities in survivors. TBI induces multiple secondary injuries, including neuroinflammation, disruption of the blood–brain b...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-06-01
|
Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/12/6418 |
id |
doaj-66b87bd61e214baba75ad8bdbd0e9a9d |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-66b87bd61e214baba75ad8bdbd0e9a9d2021-07-01T00:16:21ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672021-06-01226418641810.3390/ijms22126418Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain InjuryShotaro Michinaga0Yutaka Koyama1Department of Pharmacodynamics, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, 2-522-1 Noshio, Kiyose, Tokyo 204-8588, JapanLaboratory of Pharmacology, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, 4-19-1 Motoyama-Kita Higashinada, Kobe 668-8558, JapanTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is immediate damage caused by a blow to the head resulting from traffic accidents, falls, and sporting activity, which causes death or serious disabilities in survivors. TBI induces multiple secondary injuries, including neuroinflammation, disruption of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), and brain edema. Despite these emergent conditions, current therapies for TBI are limited or insufficient in some cases. Although several candidate drugs exerted beneficial effects in TBI animal models, most of them failed to show significant effects in clinical trials. Multiple studies have suggested that astrocytes play a key role in the pathogenesis of TBI. Increased reactive astrocytes and astrocyte-derived factors are commonly observed in both TBI patients and experimental animal models. Astrocytes have beneficial and detrimental effects on TBI, including promotion and restriction of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, acceleration and suppression of neuroinflammation, and disruption and repair of the BBB via multiple bioactive factors. Additionally, astrocytic aquaporin-4 is involved in the formation of cytotoxic edema. Thus, astrocytes are attractive targets for novel therapeutic drugs for TBI, although astrocyte-targeting drugs have not yet been developed. This article reviews recent observations of the roles of astrocytes and expected astrocyte-targeting drugs in TBI.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/12/6418astrogliosistraumatic brain injuryneuroinflammationcytotoxic edemablood–brain barrier |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Shotaro Michinaga Yutaka Koyama |
spellingShingle |
Shotaro Michinaga Yutaka Koyama Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain Injury International Journal of Molecular Sciences astrogliosis traumatic brain injury neuroinflammation cytotoxic edema blood–brain barrier |
author_facet |
Shotaro Michinaga Yutaka Koyama |
author_sort |
Shotaro Michinaga |
title |
Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain Injury |
title_short |
Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain Injury |
title_full |
Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain Injury |
title_fullStr |
Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain Injury |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pathophysiological Responses and Roles of Astrocytes in Traumatic Brain Injury |
title_sort |
pathophysiological responses and roles of astrocytes in traumatic brain injury |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
issn |
1661-6596 1422-0067 |
publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
description |
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is immediate damage caused by a blow to the head resulting from traffic accidents, falls, and sporting activity, which causes death or serious disabilities in survivors. TBI induces multiple secondary injuries, including neuroinflammation, disruption of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), and brain edema. Despite these emergent conditions, current therapies for TBI are limited or insufficient in some cases. Although several candidate drugs exerted beneficial effects in TBI animal models, most of them failed to show significant effects in clinical trials. Multiple studies have suggested that astrocytes play a key role in the pathogenesis of TBI. Increased reactive astrocytes and astrocyte-derived factors are commonly observed in both TBI patients and experimental animal models. Astrocytes have beneficial and detrimental effects on TBI, including promotion and restriction of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, acceleration and suppression of neuroinflammation, and disruption and repair of the BBB via multiple bioactive factors. Additionally, astrocytic aquaporin-4 is involved in the formation of cytotoxic edema. Thus, astrocytes are attractive targets for novel therapeutic drugs for TBI, although astrocyte-targeting drugs have not yet been developed. This article reviews recent observations of the roles of astrocytes and expected astrocyte-targeting drugs in TBI. |
topic |
astrogliosis traumatic brain injury neuroinflammation cytotoxic edema blood–brain barrier |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/12/6418 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT shotaromichinaga pathophysiologicalresponsesandrolesofastrocytesintraumaticbraininjury AT yutakakoyama pathophysiologicalresponsesandrolesofastrocytesintraumaticbraininjury |
_version_ |
1721349096581627904 |