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Neuroprotective Effects of Functionalized Hydrophilic Carbon Clusters: Targeted 1 Therapy of Traumatic Brain Injury in an Open Blast Rat Model
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Submitted:
28 November 2024
Posted:
29 November 2024
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Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes multiple cerebrovascular disruptions and oxidative stress. These pathological mechanisms are often accompanied by serious impairment in cerebral blood flow autoregulation, and neuronal and glial degeneration; Background/Objectives: Multiple biochemical cascades are triggered by brain damage resulting in reactive oxygen species production alongside blood loss and hypoxia. However, most currently available early antioxidant therapies lack capacity and hence sufficient efficacy against TBI. The aim of this study was to test a novel catalytic antioxidant nanoparticle to alleviate the damage occurring in blast TBI; Methods: TBI was elicited in an open blast rat model in which the rats are exposed to the effects of an explosive blast. Key events of the post-traumatic chain in the brain parenchyma were studied using immunohistochemistry. The application of a newly developed biologically compatible, catalytic superoxide dismutase-mimetic carbon-based nanoclusters, poly-ethylene-glycol-functionalized hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCCs), was tested post-blast to modulate the components of the TBI process; Results: PEG-HCC was shown to significantly ameliorate neuronal loss in brain cortex, the dentate gyrus and hippocampus when administered shortly after the blast. There was also a significant increase in endothelial activity to repair blood-brain barrier damage as well as modulation of microglial and astrocyte activity and an increase in inducible NO synthase in the cortex; Conclusions: We have demonstrated qualitatively and quantitatively that the previously demonstrated antioxidant properties of PEG-HCC have a neuroprotective effect after traumatic brain injury following an explosive blast acting at multiple levels of the pathological chain of events elicited by the TBI.
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Subject: Biology and Life Sciences - Neuroscience and Neurology
Copyright: This open access article is published under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, which permit the free download, distribution, and reuse, provided that the author and preprint are cited in any reuse.
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