Title:Oxidative Stress in Traumatic Brain Injury
VOLUME: 21 ISSUE: 10
Author(s):Ana Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Juan Jose Egea-Guerrero, Francisco Murillo-Cabezas and Antonio Carrillo-Vico
Affiliation:NeuroCritical Care Unit. Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, IBiS/CSIC/University of Seville, Avda. Manuel Siurot s/n 41013 Seville, Spain.
Keywords:Brain damage, cerebral ischemia, oxidative stress biomarker, reactive oxygen species, traumatic brain injury.
Abstract:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major healthcare concern, constituting a major cause of death and disability
throughout the world. Among the factors leading to TBI outcome are biochemical cascades which occur in response to
primary and secondary injury. These mechanisms generate oxidative stress, an imbalance between oxidant and antioxidant
agents that can result in neural dysfunction and death. After TBI, an assembly of oxidative stress markers (carbonylated
proteins, lipid peroxides, reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species) are produced in the brain, while antioxidant defense
enzymes decrease (GSH, ratio GSH/GSSG, GPx, GR, GST, G-6PD, SOD, CAT). This imbalance is directly related
to the pathogenesis of TBI. Therefore, the development of antioxidant strategies is of primary interest in ongoing efforts to
optimize brain injury treatment. The success of any drug intervention strategy relies, in part, on knowledge of the optimal
dosage and therapeutic window for its administration. But while the enzymes involved in oxidative stress have been identified,
the temporal course of this imbalance following TBI has yet to be determined. This would explain why most antioxidant
strategies developed to treat patients with TBI have failed.
