Denniss, R.J. orcid.org/0000-0002-3955-1008 and Barker, L.A. (2023) Brain trauma and the secondary cascade in humans: review of the potential role of vitamins in reparative processes and functional outcome. Behavioral Sciences, 13 (5). 388.
Abstract
An estimated sixty-nine million people sustain a traumatic brain injury each year. Trauma to the brain causes the primary insult and initiates a secondary biochemical cascade as part of the immune and reparative response to injury. The secondary cascade, although a normal physiological response, may also contribute to ongoing neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and axonal injury, continuing in some cases years after the initial insult. In this review, we explain some of the biochemical mechanisms of the secondary cascade and their potential deleterious effects on healthy neurons including secondary cell death. The second part of the review focuses on the role of micronutrients to neural mechanisms and their potential reparative effects with regards to the secondary cascade after brain injury. The biochemical response to injury, hypermetabolism and excessive renal clearance of nutrients after injury increases the demand for most vitamins. Currently, most research in the area has shown positive outcomes of vitamin supplementation after brain injury, although predominantly in animal (murine) models. There is a pressing need for more research in this area with human participants because vitamin supplementation post-trauma is a potential cost-effective adjunct to other clinical and therapeutic treatments. Importantly, traumatic brain injury should be considered a lifelong process and better evaluated across the lifespan of individuals who experience brain injury.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution(CCBY)license(https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). |
Keywords: | traumatic brain injury; secondary cascade; vitamin; micronutrient; functional outcome |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 May 2023 11:29 |
Last Modified: | 10 May 2023 11:29 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI AG |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/bs13050388 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:199002 |