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Witkin JM, Shafique H, Cerne R, Smith JL, Marini AM, Lipsky RH, Delery E. Mechanistic and therapeutic relationships of traumatic brain injury and γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA). Pharmacol Ther 2024; 256:108609. [PMID: 38369062 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2024.108609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a highly prevalent medical condition for which no medications specific for the prophylaxis or treatment of the condition as a whole exist. The spectrum of symptoms includes coma, headache, seizures, cognitive impairment, depression, and anxiety. Although it has been known for years that the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA) is involved in TBI, no novel therapeutics based upon this mechanism have been introduced into clinical practice. We review the neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, neurochemical, and neuropharmacological relationships of GABA neurotransmission to TBI with a view toward new potential GABA-based medicines. The long-standing idea that excitatory and inhibitory (GABA and others) balances are disrupted by TBI is supported by the experimental data but has failed to invent novel methods of restoring this balance. The slow progress in advancing new treatments is due to the complexity of the disorder that encompasses multiple dynamically interacting biological processes including hemodynamic and metabolic systems, neurodegeneration and neurogenesis, major disruptions in neural networks and axons, frank brain lesions, and a multitude of symptoms that have differential neuronal and neurohormonal regulatory mechanisms. Although the current and ongoing clinical studies include GABAergic drugs, no novel GABA compounds are being explored. It is suggested that filling the gap in understanding the roles played by specific GABAA receptor configurations within specific neuronal circuits could help define new therapeutic approaches. Further research into the temporal and spatial delivery of GABA modulators should also be useful. Along with GABA modulation, research into the sequencing of GABA and non-GABA treatments will be needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey M Witkin
- Laboratory of Antiepileptic Drug Discovery, Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Departments of Neuroscience and Trauma Research, Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, IN, USA; RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc, Glen Rock, NJ, USA.
| | | | - Rok Cerne
- Laboratory of Antiepileptic Drug Discovery, Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, IN, USA; RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc, Glen Rock, NJ, USA; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Jodi L Smith
- Laboratory of Antiepileptic Drug Discovery, Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Ann M Marini
- Department of Neurology, Program in Neuroscience, and Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Robert H Lipsky
- Department of Neurology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elizabeth Delery
- College of Osteopathic Medicine, Marian University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
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Weissberg I, Wood L, Kamintsky L, Vazquez O, Milikovsky DZ, Alexander A, Oppenheim H, Ardizzone C, Becker A, Frigerio F, Vezzani A, Buckwalter MS, Huguenard JR, Friedman A, Kaufer D. Albumin induces excitatory synaptogenesis through astrocytic TGF-β/ALK5 signaling in a model of acquired epilepsy following blood-brain barrier dysfunction. Neurobiol Dis 2015; 78:115-25. [PMID: 25836421 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2015.02.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2014] [Revised: 01/07/2015] [Accepted: 02/19/2015] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-injury epilepsy (PIE) is a common complication following brain insults, including ischemic, and traumatic brain injuries. At present, there are no means to identify the patients at risk to develop PIE or to prevent its development. Seizures can occur months or years after the insult, do not respond to anti-seizure medications in over third of the patients, and are often associated with significant neuropsychiatric morbidities. We have previously established the critical role of blood-brain barrier dysfunction in PIE, demonstrating that exposure of brain tissue to extravasated serum albumin induces activation of inflammatory transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling in astrocytes and eventually seizures. However, the link between the acute astrocytic inflammatory responses and reorganization of neural networks that underlie recurrent spontaneous seizures remains unknown. Here we demonstrate in vitro and in vivo that activation of the astrocytic ALK5/TGF-β-pathway induces excitatory, but not inhibitory, synaptogenesis that precedes the appearance of seizures. Moreover, we show that treatment with SJN2511, a specific ALK5/TGF-β inhibitor, prevents synaptogenesis and epilepsy. Our findings point to astrocyte-mediated synaptogenesis as a key epileptogenic process and highlight the manipulation of the TGF-β-pathway as a potential strategy for the prevention of PIE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Itai Weissberg
- Departments of Physiology and Cell Biology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Lydia Wood
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA
| | - Lyn Kamintsky
- Departments of Physiology and Cell Biology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Oscar Vazquez
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA
| | - Dan Z Milikovsky
- Departments of Physiology and Cell Biology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Allyson Alexander
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Hannah Oppenheim
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA
| | - Carolyn Ardizzone
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA
| | - Albert Becker
- Department of Neuropathology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn 53105, Germany
| | - Federica Frigerio
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy
| | - Annamaria Vezzani
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy
| | - Marion S Buckwalter
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - John R Huguenard
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alon Friedman
- Departments of Physiology and Cell Biology, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
| | - Daniela Kaufer
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Program in Child and Brain Development Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8, Canada.
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