Dataset Information

Sex Differences in Traumatic Brain Injury: What We Know and What We Should Know.

ABSTRACT: There is growing recognition of the problem of male bias in neuroscience research, including in the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI) where fewer women than men are recruited to clinical trials and male rodents have predominantly been used as an experimental injury model. Despite TBI being a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide, sex differences in pathophysiology and recovery are poorly understood, limiting clinical care and successful drug development. Given growing interest in sex as a biological variable affecting injury outcomes and treatment efficacy, there is a clear need to summarize sex differences in TBI. This scoping review presents an overview of current knowledge of sex differences in TBI and a comparison of human and animal studies. We found that overall, human studies report worse outcomes in women than men, whereas animal studies report better outcomes in females than males. However, closer examination shows that multiple factors including injury severity, sample size, and experimental injury model may differentially interact with sex to affect TBI outcomes. Additionally, we explore how sex differences in mitochondrial structure and function might contribute to possible sex differences in TBI outcomes. We propose recommendations for future investigations of sex differences in TBI, which we hope will lead to improved patient management, prognosis, and translation of therapies from bench to bedside.

SUBMITTER: Gupte R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6818488 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sex Differences in Traumatic Brain Injury: What We Know and What We Should Know.

Gupte Raeesa R Brooks William W Vukas Rachel R Pierce Janet J Harris Janna J

Journal of neurotrauma 20190719 22

There is growing recognition of the problem of male bias in neuroscience research, including in the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI) where fewer women than men are recruited to clinical trials and male rodents have predominantly been used as an experimental injury model. Despite TBI being a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide, sex differences in pathophysiology and recovery are poorly understood, limiting clinical care and successful drug development. Given growing interest ...[more]

PMID: 30794028

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Project description:BackgroundAmong the many factors that may influence traumatic brain injury (TBI) progression, sex is one of the most controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate sex differences in TBI-associated morbidity and mortality using data from the largest trauma registry in Japan.MethodsThis retrospective, population-based observational study included patients with isolated TBI, who were registered in a nationwide database between 2004 and 2018. We excluded patients with extracranial injury (Abbreviated Injury Scale score ≥ 3) and removed potential confounding factors, such as non-neurological causes of mortality. Patients were stratified by age and mortality and post-injury complications were compared between males and females.ResultsA total of 51,726 patients with isolated TBI were included (16,901 females and 34,825 males). Mortality across all ages was documented in 12.01% (2030/16901) and 12.76% (4445/34825) of males and females, respectively. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of TBI mortality for males compared to females was 1.32 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22-1.42]. Males aged 10-19 years and ≥ 60 years had a significantly higher mortality than females in the same age groups (10-19 years: adjusted OR, 1.97 [95% CI, 1.08-3.61]; 60-69 years: adjusted OR, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.02-1.50]; 70-79 years: adjusted OR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.03-1.40]; 80-89 years: adjusted OR, 1.50 [95% CI, 1.31-1.73], and 90-99 years: adjusted OR, 1.72 [95% CI, 1.28-2.32]). In terms of the incidence of post-TBI neurologic and non-neurologic complications, the crude ORs were 1.29 (95% CI, 1.19-1.39) and 1.14 (95% CI, 1.07-1.22), respectively, for males versus females. This difference was especially evident among elderly patients (neurologic complications: OR, 1.27 [95% CI, 1.14-1.41]; non-neurologic complications: OR, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.19-1.39]).ConclusionsIn a nationwide sample of patients with TBI in Japan, males had a higher mortality than females. This disparity was particularly evident among younger and older generations. Furthermore, elderly males experienced more TBI complications than females of the same age.

Project description:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects millions of Americans each year and has been shown to disproportionately impact those subject to greater disparities in health. Female sex is one factor that has been associated with disparities in health outcomes, including in TBI, but sex differences in biomarker levels and behavioral outcomes after TBI are underexplored. This study included participants with both blunt and blast TBI with majority rating their TBI as mild. Time since injury was 5.4 (2.0, 15.5) years for females and 6.8 (2.4, 11.3) years for males. The aim of this cross sectional study is to investigate the relationship between postconcussive, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as well as health related quality of life (HRQOL), and the levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), total tau (t-tau), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1). Behavioral outcomes were evaluated with the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), PTSD Checklist- Civilian Version (PCL-C), short form (SF)-36, and plasma levels of total tau, GFAP, NfL, and UCHL-1 measured with the Simoa-HDX. We observed that females had significantly higher levels of GFAP and tau (ps < 0.05), and higher PHQ-9 scores, NSI total scores, NSI- vestibular, NSI-somatosensory, NSI-affective sub-scale scores (ps < 0.05)), than males. In addition, females had lower scores in HRQOL outcomes of role limitations due to emotional problems, vitality, emotional well-being, social functioning, and pain compared to males (ps < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed positive associations between levels of tau and the NSI-total and NSI-cognitive sub-scale scores (ps < 0.05) in females. No significant associations were found for NfL or GFAP with NSI scores. For female participants, negative correlations were observed between tau and NfL concentrations and the SF-36 physical function subscale (ps < 0.05), as well as tau and the social function subscale (p < 0.001), while GFAP levels positively correlated with role limitations due to emotional problems (p = 0.004). No significant associations were observed in males. Our findings suggest that sex differences exist in TBI-related behavioral outcomes, as well as levels of biomarkers associated with brain injury, and that the relationship between biomarker levels and behavioral outcomes is more evident in females than males. Future studies are warranted to corroborate these results, and to determine the implications for prognosis and treatment. The identification of candidate TBI biomarkers may lead to development of individualized treatment guidelines.

Dataset Information

Sex Differences in Traumatic Brain Injury: What We Know and What We Should Know.

Publications

Sex Differences in Traumatic Brain Injury: What We Know and What We Should Know.

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