Each year about 1.5 million people in the U.S. survive a traumatic brain injury due to a fall, car accident, or a sports injury, which can cause immediate and long-term disability.
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers wanted to better understand what happens in the brain during injury, so they conducted a study in mice to determine how different types of brain cells in mice react to severe trauma. In a new study published in the January issue of Autophagy, they found that after traumatic brain injury, the brain’s immune system cells’ internal recycling function slowed dramatically, allowing waste products to build up and interfere with recovery from injury.
The researchers also found that treating mice that had traumatic brain injury with a drug to promote cellular recycling improved the mice’s ability to recover from injury and solve a water maze, a measure of memory function in mice.
To learn more, read the full article: https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/news/2023/traumatic-brain-injury-interferes-with-immune-system-cells-recycling-process-in-brain-cells.html
From University of Maryland School of Medicine