Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROPATHOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
Volume 70, Issue 11, Pages 1046-1057Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1097/NEN.0b013e318235bef2
Keywords
Astrogliosis; Axonal injury; Blast injury; Blast pressure; Mild traumatic brain injury; Neurotrauma
Categories
Funding
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Mild traumatic brain injury resulting from exposure to an explosive blast is associated with significant neurobehavioral outcomes in soldiers. Little is known about the neuropathologic consequences of such an insult to the human brain. This study is an attempt to understand the effects of an explosive blast in a large animal gyrencephalic brain blast injury model. Anesthetized Yorkshire swine were exposed to measured explosive blast levels in 3 operationally relevant scenarios: simulated free field (blast tube), high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle surrogate, and building (4-walled structure). Histologic changes in exposed animals up to 2 weeks after blast were compared to a group of naive and sham controls. The overall pathologic changes in all 3 blast scenarios were limited, with very little neuronal injury, fiber tract demyelination, or intracranial hemorrhage observed. However, there were 2 distinct neuropathologic changes observed: increased astrocyte activation and proliferation and periventricular axonal injury detected with beta-amyloid precursor protein immunohistochemistry. We postulate that the increased astrogliosis observed may have a longer-term potential for the exacerbation of brain injury and that the pattern of periventricular axonal injury may be related to a potential for cognitive and mood disorders.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available