Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), caused by mechanical impact to the brain, is a leading cause of death and disability among young adults, with slow and often incomplete recovery. Preemptive treatment strategies may increase the injury resilience of high-risk populations such as soldiers and athletes. In this work, the xanthophyll carotenoid Astaxanthin was examined as a potential nutritional preconditioning method in mice (sabra strain) to increase their resilience prior to TBI in a closed head injury (CHI) model. The effect of Astaxanthin pretreatment on heat shock protein (HSP) dynamics and functional outcome after CHI was explored by gavage or free eating (in pellet form) for 2 weeks before CHI. Assessment of neuromotor function by the neurological severity score (NSS) revealed significant improvement in the Astaxanthin gavage-treated group (100 mg/kg, ATX) during recovery compared to the gavage-treated olive oil group (OIL), beginning at 24 h post-CHI and lasting throughout 28 days (p < 0.007). Astaxanthin pretreatment in pellet form produced a smaller improvement in NSS vs. posttreatment at 7 days post-CHI (p < 0.05). Cognitive and behavioral evaluation using the novel object recognition test (ORT) and the Y Maze test revealed an advantage for Astaxanthin administration via free eating vs. standard chow during recovery post-CHI (ORT at 3 days, p < 0.035; improvement in Y Maze score from 2 to 29 days, p < 0.02). HSP profile and anxiety (open field test) were not significantly affected by Astaxanthin. In conclusion, astaxanthin pretreatment may contribute to improved recovery post-TBI in mice and is influenced by the form of administration.
Highlights
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), caused by mechanical impact to the brain, is a leading cause of death and disability among young adults [1]
heat shock protein (HSP) Dynamics Figure 2A demonstrates that closed head injury (CHI) leads to a gradual reduction in cortical HSP72 protein level compared to the control in the affected brain hemisphere, which becomes significantly lower 8 h post-CHI and continues until 24 h post-CHI
The 4- and 8-h time points post-CHI were chosen to evaluate the effect of Astaxanthin supplementation by gavage (ATX) on cortical HSPs (Figures 2B1–B4)
Summary
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), caused by mechanical impact to the brain, is a leading cause of death and disability among young adults [1]. Soldiers [2] and athletes [3], exposed to rigorous conditions and combat hazards, face a high risk of sustaining TBI. Wartime TBI is often caused by blast or concussive injury: a non-penetrating closed head injury (CHI). The mechanical brain trauma causes the accumulation of harmful mediators, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) [13, 14], cytokines, free fatty acids, and excitatory amino acids leading to widespread cell death, through a cytotoxic cascade, which is the driving force to ensuing damage, morbidity, and disability [15]. Physiological and psychological stress existing at the time of injury have a profound effect on its outcome [16, 17]
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