Injury to the neurovasculature is a feature of brain injury and
must be addressed to
maxi
mize opportunity for i
mprove
ment. Cerebrovascular dysfunction,
manifested by reduction in cerebral blood flow (CBF), is a key factor that worsens outco
me after trau
matic brain injury (TBI),
most notably under conditions of hypotension. We report here that a new class of antioxidants, poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCCs), which are nontoxic carbon particles, rapidly restore CBF in a
mild TBI/hypotension/resuscitation rat
model when ad
ministered during resuscitation鈥攁 clinically relevant ti
me point. Along with restoration of CBF, there is a conco
mitant nor
malization of superoxide and nitric oxide levels. Given the role of poor CBF in deter
mining outco
me, this finding is of
major i
mportance for i
mproving patient health under clinically relevant conditions during resuscitative care, and it has direct i
mplications for the current TBI/hypotension war-fighter victi
ms in the Afghanistan and Middle East theaters. The results also have relevancy in other related acute circu
mstances such as stroke and organ transplantation.
Keywords:
matic+brain+injury&qsSearchArea=searchText">traumatic brain injury; cerebral blood flow; antioxidants; hydrophilic carbon clusters; nanoparticles