Raloxifene Modulates Microglia and Rescues Visual Deficits and Pathology After Impact Traumatic Brain Injury.

ABSTRACT: Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) involves widespread axonal injury and activation of microglia, which initiates secondary processes that worsen the TBI outcome. The upregulation of cannabinoid type-2 receptors (CB2) when microglia become activated allows CB2-binding drugs to selectively target microglia. CB2 inverse agonists modulate activated microglia by shifting them away from the harmful pro-inflammatory M1 state toward the helpful reparative M2 state and thus can stem secondary injury cascades. We previously found that treatment with the CB2 inverse agonist SMM-189 after mild TBI in mice produced by focal cranial blast rescues visual deficits and the optic nerve axon loss that would otherwise result. We have further shown that raloxifene, which is Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-a

SUBMITTER: Honig MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8585747 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature