New Conclusive Study: Head Injury Leads to Brain Disease

December 13, 2018

Two weeks ago, biologists at the University of California –  Los Angeles provided confirmation that head injuries can lead to serious brain disorders. Through this study, scientists supplied the first cell “atlas” of the hippocampus — the part of the brain responsible for regulating learning and memory — when affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI).  

This was the first study of individual cell types subject to brain trauma and it involved researchers examining more than 6,000 cells in 15 hippocampal cell types. Each cell has the same DNA, but which genes are activated varies among different cell types. The big discovery was the finding that hundreds of genes are adversely affected by mild traumatic brain injury, such as caused by concussion. These altered genes can lead to the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s later in life.  

For the study, researchers reproduced concussion-like brain injury in mice and compared their results to other mice who didn’t receive a brain injury. Their discoveries are as follows:  

  • Brain trauma increased the level of Ttr — the gene that primarily regulates metabolism and controls thyroid hormones. Leading to the conclusion that Ttr is important to brain health and may function to bring more thyroid hormone to the brain to maintain metabolism.  
  • A thyroid hormone called T4 was injected into the mice. They found that T4 improved traumatic brain injury-induced learning deficits and reversed changes in 93 genes that affect learning and memory. This reversal in damage caused by traumatic brain injury is a major new finding. After brain injury, metabolism is substantially reduced. The biologists think T4 may “reboot” metabolism. 
  • For the first time, the biologists found several genes that are affected by traumatic brain injury, which has recently been linked to neurotic behavior in humans. Traumatic brain injury has been associated with depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. This research could lead to new treatments for these conditions. 
  • Injury to the brain can lead to what is known as post-traumatic epilepsy. The researchers found a gene that could serve as a potential target for treating this kind of epilepsy. 

A key takeaway from this study is that this research could lead to the ability to pinpoint treatments specific each affected individual. Through gene mapping, we could identify which genes and which cells are changing in each patient and prescribe the most effective treatment for truly precision medicine.  

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