Traumatic white matter injury and glial activation: From basic science to clinics
Abstract
An improved understanding and characterization of glial activation and its relationship with white matter injury will likely serve as a novel treatment target to curb post injury inflammation and promote axonal remyelination after brain trauma. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant public healthcare burden and a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Particularly, traumatic white matter (WM) injury or traumatic axonal injury has been reported as being associated with patients' poor outcomes. However, there is very limited data reporting the importance of glial activation after TBI and its interaction with WM injury. This article presents a systematic review of traumatic WM injury and the associated glial activation, from basic science to clinical diagnosis and prognosis, from advanced neuroimaging perspective. It concludes that there is a disconnection between WM injury research and the essential role of glia which serve to restore a healthy environment for axonal regeneration following WM injury. Particularly, there is a significant lack of non‐invasive means to characterize the complex pathophysiology of WM injury and glial activation in both animal models and in humans. An improved understanding and characterization of the relationship between glia and WM injury will likely serve as a novel treatment target to curb post injury inflammation and promote axonal remyelination. GLIA 2014;62:1831–1855
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 07, 2014
- Source ID
- 10.1002/glia.22690
Entities
People
- Pamela J. Vandevord
- Zhifeng Kou
Organizations
- International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
- United States Department of Defense
- Virginia Tech
- Wayne State University