Bachstetter AD, Webster SJ, Goulding DS, Morton JE, Watterson DM, Van Eldik LJ. Attenuation of traumatic brain injury-induced cognitive impairment in mice by targeting increased cytokine levels with a small molecule experimental therapeutic.
J Neuroinflammation 2015;
12:69. [PMID:
25886256 PMCID:
PMC4396836 DOI:
10.1186/s12974-015-0289-5]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Evidence from clinical studies and preclinical animal models suggests that proinflammatory cytokine overproduction is a potential driving force for pathology progression in traumatic brain injury (TBI). This raises the possibility that selective targeting of the overactive cytokine response, a component of the neuroinflammation that contributes to neuronal dysfunction, may be a useful therapeutic approach. MW151 is a CNS-penetrant, small molecule experimental therapeutic that selectively restores injury- or disease-induced overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines towards homeostasis. We previously reported that MW151 administered post-injury (p.i.) is efficacious in a closed head injury (CHI) model of diffuse TBI in mice. Here we test dose dependence of MW151 to suppress the target mechanism (proinflammatory cytokine up-regulation), and explore the therapeutic window for MW151 efficacy.
Methods
We examined suppression of the acute cytokine surge when MW151 was administered at different times post-injury and the dose-dependence of cytokine suppression. We also tested a more prolonged treatment with MW151 over the first 7 days post-injury and measured the effects on cognitive impairment and glial activation.
Results
MW151 administered up to 6 h post-injury suppressed the acute cytokine surge, in a dose-dependent manner. Administration of MW151 over the first 7 days post-injury rescues the CHI-induced cognitive impairment and reduces glial activation in the focus area of the CHI.
Conclusions
Our results identify a clinically relevant time window post-CHI during which MW151 effectively restores cytokine production back towards normal, with a resultant attenuation of downstream cognitive impairment.
Collapse