General Medical Research Service, James J, Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, New York, USA.
Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2014 Jun 17;2:67. doi: 10.1186/2051-5960-2-67.
Blast-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of injury in the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. How the primary blast wave affects the brain is not well understood. The aim of the present study was to examine whether blast exposure affects the cerebral vasculature in a rodent model. We analyzed the brains of rats exposed to single or multiple (three) 74.5 kPa blast exposures, conditions that mimic a mild TBI. Rats were sacrificed 24 hours or between 6 and 10 months after exposure. Blast-induced cerebral vascular pathology was examined by a combination of light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy.
We describe a selective vascular pathology that is present acutely at 24 hours after injury. The vascular pathology is found at the margins of focal shear-related injuries that, as we previously showed, typically follow the patterns of penetrating cortical vessels. However, changes in the microvasculature extend beyond the margins of such lesions. Electron microscopy revealed that microvascular pathology is found in regions of the brain with an otherwise normal neuropil. This initial injury leads to chronic changes in the microvasculature that are still evident many months after the initial blast exposure.
These studies suggest that vascular pathology may be a central mechanism in the induction of chronic blast-related injury.
爆炸相关的创伤性脑损伤（TBI）是在伊拉克和阿富汗军事行动中常见的损伤原因。主爆炸波如何影响大脑尚不清楚。本研究的目的是在啮齿动物模型中研究爆炸暴露是否会影响脑的脉管系统。我们分析了单次或多次（三次）74.5kPa 爆炸暴露的大鼠的大脑，这些条件模拟了轻度 TBI。在暴露后 24 小时或 6 至 10 个月处死大鼠。通过光镜、免疫组织化学和电子显微镜相结合的方法检查爆炸引起的脑血管病变。
我们描述了一种急性损伤后 24 小时出现的选择性血管病变。血管病变出现在局灶性剪切相关损伤的边缘，正如我们之前所显示的，这些损伤通常沿着穿透性皮质血管的模式发生。然而，微血管的变化超出了这些病变的边缘。电子显微镜显示，在神经毡正常的脑区也存在微血管病变。这种初始损伤导致微血管的慢性变化，即使在最初的爆炸暴露后数月仍能观察到。
这些研究表明，血管病变可能是慢性爆炸相关损伤诱导的一个核心机制。
