TBI drugs have negative effect on children
While there’s no drugs to specifically treat traumatic brain injury (TBI), new research has shown that certain antibiotics used to prevent inflammation in the brain following a TBI have been helpful for adults, while simultaneously having a negative effect on children and infants. “The treatment was found to have a negative effect on the brains […]
While there’s no drugs to specifically treat traumatic brain injury( TBI), new research has shown that certain antibiotics used to prevent inflammation in the brain following a TBI have been helpful for adults, while simultaneously having a negative effect on children and infants.
“The treatment was found to have a negative effect on the brains which did not complete the development process,” according to an article published in Tech Times.
The study showed that when antibiotics were administered to newborn rats in the immediate aftermath of the injury, it aggravated the cognitive impairment.
“The developing brain is not the same as the fully mature brain. This study suggests that acute interventions targeting the inflammatory cascade may not be a viable strategy for treating traumatic brain injury in infants and young children,” noted Ramesh Raghupathi, PhD, a professor of neurobiology and anatomy in the College of Medicine.
The drug decreases the primary immune cells in the spinal cord and brain, which are responsible for protecting the body against foreign pathogens. However, haltering microglia only seems to work in adult brains.
“There was a lot of cell death, damage and inflammation,” Raghupathi, lead author of the study, said about treating infant rats.
The team treated the newborn rats with minocycline, in one daily dosage over a three-day period. The results showed no improvement in t brain activity. The researchers extended the period to nine days and the baby rats reportedly showed significant memory issues as well as complementary behavioral problems.
The researchers believe the issue has to do with the role microglia plays in brain development, cleaning the brain of debris and dead neurons as to make room for the functional neurons left to work under normal conditions.
“By inhibiting this function inside the brains of newborns, the normal process of brain maturation is negatively affected, and cognitive functions can suffer long-term impairment,” the article reads.
