Pathological Fingerprints, Systems Biology and Biomarkers of Blast Brain Injury

摘要

We compared the effects of primary blast overpressure exposure of controlled duration, peak pressure, and transmitted impulse with brain injury by a severe blast load accompanied with strong head acceleration. The off-axis rat positioning avoided strong head acceleration due to the blast generator venting gas impulse, and reproduced primary blast with different mechanisms. sICAM, L-selectin, and E-selectin accumulated substantially in rat blood 24 hours after the blast and persisted for 14 days post-blast. Serum matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) exhibited a similar profile. Nerve growth factor beta- NGF in blood was significantly elevated within the first week post-blast and showed the most pronounced changes when the total animal body was subjected to blast waves. Resistin accumulated in rat blood 7 days after blast followed by a gradual decline. Neuropeptide Orexin A content showed a drastic rise at 24 hours after a blast that targeted the total body, followed by a gradual decline. In contrast, a blast wave targeting only the animal's head caused a gradual raise of Orexin through 30 days post-exposure. For all biomarkers, the detected levels rose in all the setups studied. Nevertheless, the most significant and persistent serum changes were observed when the total animal body was subjected to a blast wave compared to setups in which only the animal's head was targeted. Proteomic profiling of novel biomarkers has been performed and the results are being analyzed.