Targeting Dopamine in Acute Traumatic Brain Injury

In addition to the initial mechanical damage, traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces a series of secondary insults, such as, but not limited to, excitotoxicity, metabolic disruption, and oxidative stress. Neuroprotective strategies after TBI have traditionally focused on cellular preservation as the measurable endpoint although multiple lines of evidence indicate that even with significant neuronal sparing deficits remain at both the cellular and behavioral level. As such, the development of therapies that can effectively confer both neuronal sparing and post-injury functional benefit is critical to providing the best treatment options for clinical TBI. Targeting dopaminergic signaling pathways is a novel approach in TBI that provides benefits to both neuronal survival and functional outcomes. Dopamine, like glutamate, can cause oxidative stress and significant cellular dysfunction when either depleted or over-expressed, and also plays an important role in central nervous system inflammation. The purpose of this review is to discuss dopamine in acute TBI and the role that dopaminergic therapies have as neuroprotective strategies.