Fox Laura C, Davies Daniel R, Scholl Jamie L, Watt Michael J, Forster Gina L
Center for Brain and Behavior Research, University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine, Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, 414 East Clark St, Vermillion, SD, United States.
Behav Brain Res. 2016 Oct 1;312:362-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.06.048. Epub 2016 Jun 27.
Mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) comprise three-quarters of all TBIs occurring in the United States annually, and psychological symptoms arising from them can last years after injury. One commonly observed symptom following mild TBI is generalized anxiety. Most mild TBIs happen in stressful situations (sports, war, domestic violence, etc.) when glucocorticoids are elevated in the brain at the time of impact, and glucocorticoids have negative effects on neuronal health following TBI. Therefore, blocking glucocorticoid receptors might prevent emergence of anxiety symptoms post-injury. Adult male rats received mifepristone (20mg/kg) or spironolactone (50mg/kg) to block glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors, respectively, 40min prior to being exposed to acute social defeat stress followed immediately by mild TBI. In defeated rats with concomitant mild TBI, mifepristone restored time spent in the open arms of an elevated plus maze to control levels, demonstrating for the first time that glucocorticoid receptors play a critical role in the development of anxiety after mild TBI. Future treatments could target these receptors, alleviating anxiety as a major side effect in victims of mild TBI sustained in stressful situations.
轻度创伤性脑损伤（TBI）占美国每年发生的所有TBI的四分之三，由此产生的心理症状在受伤后可能会持续数年。轻度TBI后常见的一种症状是广泛性焦虑。大多数轻度TBI发生在压力情境下（运动、战争、家庭暴力等），撞击时大脑中的糖皮质激素会升高，而糖皮质激素在TBI后对神经元健康有负面影响。因此，阻断糖皮质激素受体可能会防止受伤后焦虑症状的出现。成年雄性大鼠在暴露于急性社会挫败应激并紧接着轻度TBI之前40分钟，分别接受米非司酮（20mg/kg）或螺内酯（50mg/kg）以阻断糖皮质激素和盐皮质激素受体。在伴有轻度TBI的挫败大鼠中，米非司酮将高架十字迷宫开放臂中的停留时间恢复到对照水平，首次证明糖皮质激素受体在轻度TBI后焦虑的发展中起关键作用。未来的治疗可以针对这些受体，缓解焦虑这一在压力情境下遭受轻度TBI的受害者的主要副作用。
