The Role of Inflammation in Development of AD Following Repetitive Head Trauma
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects approximately 3.8 million people annually and costs the United States $48 million. There is increasing evidence that individuals exposed to TBI have increased risk of the development of Alzheimer s disease (AD). TBI triggers a potent neuroinflammatory response, and recent evidence suggests that alterations in neuroinflammation may promote neurodegeneration. Importantly, all patients that get a TBI do not get a neurodegenerative disease, and the mechanistic link between TBI and AD is still unknown. Currently, there is no diagnostic tool to determine which TBI patients will suffer from a neurodegenerative disease. The focus of the Lamb lab has been to study the role of TBI-induced neuroinflammation in neurodegeneration. Many studies from this lab and multiple other labs have suggested that alterations in inflammatory markers may be a helpful diagnostic tool for patients with TBI. In this study, we will collect blood from active professional fighters and controls to examine the expression of acute post-injury inflammatory markers. We will also collect blood from retired professional fighters and examine the expression of chronic post-injury inflammatory markers. Brain imaging, another potential diagnostic tool that can be correlated with inflammatory markers, will be completed in a subset of retired fighters and matched controls to document structural changes in the brain. Finally, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), the circulating fluid in the brain, will also be collected from a subset of retired fighters and matched controls to measure inflammatory and AD-related markers. The goal of this study is to identify inflammatory biomarkers that correlate with structural changes in the brain in a population with heightened exposure to repetitive head injury. The success of this project will not only provide new diagnostic tools, but also potential therapeutic targets of interest for subsequent studies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 04, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1510267
Entities
People
- Bruce T. Lamb
Organizations
- Indiana University
- United States Army