After traumatic brain injury (TBI) elderly patients suffer from higher mortality rate and worse functional outcome compared to young patients. However, experimental TBI research is primarily performed in young animals. Aim of the present study was to clarify whether age affects functional outcome, neuroinflammation and secondary brain damage after brain trauma in mice. Young (2 months) and old (21 months) male C57Bl6N mice were anesthetized and subjected to a controlled cortical impact injury (CCI) on the right parietal cortex. Animals of both ages were randomly assigned to 15 min, 24 h, and 72 h survival. At the end of the observation periods, contusion volume, brain water content, neurologic function, cerebral and systemic inflammation (CD3+ T cell migration, inflammatory cytokine expression in brain and lung, blood differential cell count) were determined. Old animals showed worse neurological function 72 h after CCI and a high mortality rate (19.2%) compared to young (0%). This did not correlate with histopathological damage, as contusion volumes were equal in both age groups. Although a more pronounced brain edema formation was detected in old mice 24 hours after TBI, lack of correlation between brain water content and neurological deficit indicated that brain edema formation is not solely responsible for age-dependent differences in neurological outcome. Brains of old naïve mice were about 8% smaller compared to young naïve brains, suggesting age-related brain atrophy with possible decline in plasticity. Onset of cerebral inflammation started earlier and primarily ipsilateral to damage in old mice, whereas in young mice inflammation was delayed and present in both hemispheres with a characteristic T cell migration pattern. Pulmonary interleukin 1β expression was up-regulated after cerebral injury only in young, not aged mice. The results therefore indicate that old animals are prone to functional deficits and strong ipsilateral cerebral inflammation without major differences in morphological brain damage compared to young.

II. The Amount of Retention as a Function of the Method of Measurement III. Retention as a Function of the Degree of Learning. IV. The Effect of Extending the Time Limit for Recall upon the Amount of Material Recalled V. The Relation between the Amount of Error and Other Factors VI. The Duration and the Speed of Recall VII. Individual Differences and Correlations VIII. Conclusion 85

The results indicate that angiotensin II receptor type 1 plays a key role in the development of secondary brain damage after brain trauma. Inhibition of angiotensin II receptor type 1 with a delay of up to 4 hrs after traumatic brain injury effectively reduces lesion volume. This reduction makes angiotensin II receptor type 1 a promising therapeutic target for reducing cerebral inflammation and limiting secondary brain damage.

Disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) results in cerebral edema formation, which is a major cause for high mortality after traumatic brain injury (TBI). As anesthetic care is mandatory in patients suffering from severe TBI it may be important to elucidate the effect of different anesthetics on cerebral edema formation. Tight junction proteins (TJ) such as zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and claudin-5 (cl5) play a central role for BBB stability. First, the influence of the volatile anesthetics sevoflurane and isoflurane on in-vitro BBB integrity was investigated by quantification of the electrical resistance (TEER) in murine brain endothelial monolayers and neurovascular co-cultures of the BBB. Secondly brain edema and TJ expression of ZO-1 and cl5 were measured in-vivo after exposure towards volatile anesthetics in native mice and after controlled cortical impact (CCI). In in-vitro endothelial monocultures, both anesthetics significantly reduced TEER within 24 hours after exposure. In BBB co-cultures mimicking the neurovascular unit (NVU) volatile anesthetics had no impact on TEER. In healthy mice, anesthesia did not influence brain water content and TJ expression, while 24 hours after CCI brain water content increased significantly stronger with isoflurane compared to sevoflurane. In line with the brain edema data, ZO-1 expression was significantly higher in sevoflurane compared to isoflurane exposed CCI animals. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed disruption of ZO-1 at the cerebrovascular level, while cl5 was less affected in the pericontusional area. The study demonstrates that anesthetics influence brain edema formation after experimental TBI. This effect may be attributed to modulation of BBB permeability by differential TJ protein expression. Therefore, selection of anesthetics may influence the barrier function and introduce a strong bias in experimental research on pathophysiology of BBB dysfunction. Future research is required to investigate adverse or beneficial effects of volatile anesthetics on patients at risk for cerebral edema.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a frequent pathology associated with poor neurological outcome in the aged population. We recently observed accelerated cerebral inflammation in aged mice in response to TBI. Candesartan is a potent specific inhibitor of angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT1) which limits cerebral inflammation and brain damage in juvenile animals after experimental TBI. In the present study, we show significantly lower posttraumatic AT1 mRNA levels in aged (21 months) compared to young (2 months) mice. Despite low cerebral At1 expression, pharmacologic blockade by treatment with candesartan [daily, beginning 30 min after experimental TBI by controlled cortical impact (CCI)] was highly effective in both young and aged animals and reduced histological brain damage by −20% after 5 days. In young mice, neurological improvement was enhanced by AT1 inhibition 5 days after CCI. In older animals, candesartan treatment reduced functional impairment already on day 3 after TBI and post-traumatic body weight (BW) loss was attenuated. Candesartan reduced microglia activation (−40%) in young and aged animals, and neutrophil infiltration (−40% to 50%) in aged mice, whereas T-cell infiltration was not changed in either age group. In young animals, markers of anti-inflammatory microglia M2a polarization [arginase 1 ( Arg1 ), chitinase3-like 3 ( Ym1 )] were increased by candesartan at days 1 and 5 after insult. In older mice 5 days after insult, expression of Arg1 was significantly higher independently of the treatment, whereas Ym1 gene expression was further enhanced by AT1 inhibition. Despite age-dependent posttraumatic differences in At1 expression levels, inhibition of AT1 was highly effective in a posttreatment paradigm. Targeting inflammation with candesartan is, therefore, a promising therapeutic strategy to limit secondary brain damage independent of the age.

Objectives-To determine the neuroprotective efficacy of the inert gas xenon following traumatic brain injury, and to determine whether application of xenon has a clinically relevant therapeutic time window.Design-Controlled animal study. Setting-University research laboratory. Subjects-Male C57BL/6N mice (n=196)Interventions-75% xenon, 50% xenon or 30% xenon, with 25% oxygen (balance nitrogen) treatment following mechanical brain lesion by controlled cortical impact.Measurements & Main Results-Outcome following trauma was measured using: 1) functional neurological outcome score, 2) histological measurement of contusion volume, 3) analysis of locomotor function and gait. Our study shows that xenon-treatment improves outcome following traumatic brain injury. Neurological outcome scores were significantly (p<0.05) better

Inflammatory and ischemic processes contribute to the development of secondary brain damage after mechanical brain injury. Recent data suggest that thiazolidinediones (TZDs), a class of drugs approved for the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, effectively reduces inflammation and brain lesion by stimulation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ). The present study investigates the influence of the TZD pioglitazone and rosiglitazone on inflammation and secondary brain damage after experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI). A controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury was induced in male C57BL/6 mice to investigate following endpoints: (1) mRNA expression of PPAR-γ and PPAR-γ target genes (LPL, GLT1, and IRAP/Lnpep), and inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and iNOS), at 15 min, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h post-trauma; (2) contusion volume, neurological function, and gene expression after 24 h in mice treated with pioglitazone (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) or rosiglitazone (5 and 10 mg/kg IP at 30 min post-trauma); and (3) the role of PPAR-γ to mediate protection was determined in animals treated with pioglitazone, the PPAR-γ inhibitor T0070907, and a combination of both. Inflammatory marker genes, but not PPAR-γ gene expression, was upregulated after trauma. Pioglitazone reduced the histological damage and inflammation in a dose-dependent fashion. In contrast, rosiglitazone failed to suppress inflammation and histological damage. PPAR-γ and PPAR-γ target gene expression was not induced by pioglitazone and rosiglitazone. In line with these results, pioglitazone-mediated protection was not reversed by T0070907. The results indicate that the neuroprotective effects of pioglitazone are not solely related to PPAR-γ-dependent mechanisms.

HIF-1a is pivotal for cellular homeostasis in response to cerebral ischemia. Pharmacological inhibition of HIF-1a may reduce secondary brain damage by targeting post-translational mechanisms associated with its proteasomal degradation and nuclear translocation. This study examined the neuroprotective effects of 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME2), the involved HIF-1a-dependent response, and alternative splicing in exon 14 of HIF-1a (HIF-1aΔEx14) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in mice. Intraperitoneal 2ME2 administration 30 min after TBI caused a dose-dependent reduction in secondary brain damage after 24 h. 2ME2 was physiologically tolerated, showed no effects on immune cell brain migration, and mitigated trauma-induced brain expression of neuropathologically relevant HIF-1a target genes encoding for Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Moreover, TBI-induced expression of pro-apoptotic BNIP3 was attenuated by 2ME2 treatment. Alternatively, spliced HIF-1aΔEx14 was substantially up-regulated from 6 to 48 h after TBI. In vitro, nuclear location and gene transcription activity of HIF-1aΔEx14 were impaired compared to full-length HIF-1a, but no effects on nuclear translocation of the transcriptional complex partner HIF-1b were observed. This study demonstrates that 2ME2 confers neuroprotection after TBI. While the role of alternatively spliced HIF-1aΔEx14 remains elusive, the in vivo data provide evidence that inhibition of a maladaptive HIF-1a-dependent response contributes to the neuroprotective effects of 2ME2. Keywords: 2-methoxyestradiol, alternative splicing, cerebral ischemia, HIF-1, neuroprotection, traumatic brain injury.