
New approach to traumatic brain injuries - pg
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/07/new-approach-to-traumatic-brain-injuries/?utm_source=alumniaffairs&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hag_8_2011
======
carbocation
Though they link to the journals, they don't actually link to the articles
directly. At any rate, what they describe is very interesting: that blast
injury leads to disruption of cell-cell adhesion.[1] If so, perhaps the
disruption of integrins is the key lesion. The second paper shows that there
could also be a biological basis for the post-blast vasospasm, too.[2]

We know that cell-cell adhesion molecules are part of larger complexes that
are hugely important in cellular processes from promoting inflammation to
cancer suppression (or, in its disregulation, metastasis
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithelial-
mesenchymal_transiti...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithelial-
mesenchymal_transition) ).

If the hypothesis--that blast injury has an important biological component--is
true, then we're dealing with a biological basis for neurological disease
after blast, instead of just a purely mechanical basis for disease. Unlike
purely mechanical disruption, the biological part of the injury is potentially
amenable to therapeutic intervention; and that's just what they've trialed
with their ROCK inhibitor. I believe that's from paper #1.

This same inhibitor appears to ameliorate the blast-related sequelae on the
cerebral vascular system as well, which I believe is from paper #2.

This is my interpretation based on the Gazette article, but I haven't yet read
the papers themselves.

1\. Paper #1
[http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.po...](http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0022899)

2\. Paper #2
[http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/07/12/1105860108.abst...](http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/07/12/1105860108.abstract)

------
JayTe
This is wonderful research and the people that did it deserve accolades. What
they proved, however, is the destruction that occurs with brain tissue in
extreme trauma occurs on so many different levels it is virtually impossible
to intervene adequately in the limited time available. The lesson to me is
that we humans need to be a bit more humble and not assume we can fix all our
stupid mistakes.

------
adrianwaj
One day I hope a pill is invented for after a head shock (I suppose in a
severe head shock the person won't be able to swallow) so an injection,
sublingual or patch -- it stops the devastating chemical chain reaction: the
equivalent of icing a sprain: ice for the brain.

Maybe a sound or frequency generator might work too.

~~~
earl
well, the chemical mentioned in the article, HA-1077, is at least a small
molecule so it's not impossible that it will pass the blood brain barrier. And
we have now exhausted my knowledge of medical pharmacology =P. But if the
molecule passes the stomach as well it seems like we could just bulk
manufacture these pills.

Alternatively, we could stop messing around in countries where we have no
business being, and treat traumatic brain injury by avoiding creating them in
the first place.

