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Free radicals in CNS injury
1CNS Diseases Research Unit, Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49001.
Research Publications - Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease
|January 1, 1993
Summary
Oxygen radicals and lipid peroxidation play a role in central nervous system (CNS) injury. Antioxidant treatments show promise in experimental models and early clinical trials for improving recovery after CNS trauma.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biochemistry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Reviews the role of oxygen radical generation and lipid peroxidation in experimental models of acute central nervous system (CNS) injury.
- Discusses evidence linking these processes to post-traumatic pathophysiology, including hypoperfusion, edema, and axonal degeneration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the pathophysiological importance of oxygen radical reactions and lipid peroxidation in CNS injury.
- To assess the therapeutic potential of antifree radical and antiperoxidative agents in promoting recovery.
Main Methods:
- Review of experimental data on oxygen radical generation and lipid peroxidation in CNS injury models.
- Analysis of evidence linking these biochemical events to specific pathological outcomes.
- Examination of the effects of antioxidant and lipid peroxidation inhibiting compounds in preclinical studies.
Main Results:
- Oxygen radical generation and lipid peroxidation are early events following CNS trauma.
- These processes are associated with hypoperfusion, edema, axonal dysfunction, and degeneration.
- Inhibitors of lipid peroxidation and oxygen radical scavengers improve outcomes in experimental CNS injury.
Conclusions:
- Evidence strongly supports the role of lipid peroxidation in post-traumatic CNS degeneration.
- Clinical trials with methylprednisolone and tirilazad mesylate suggest therapeutic benefits of antioxidants in human CNS injury.
- Further research is needed to confirm the therapeutic importance of inhibiting free radical reactions in injured CNS.
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