Estrogen receptor alpha mediates protection against hypoxic ischemic brain injury in newborn female mice, study shows

In her practice as a pediatric intensivist, Cengiz noticed that even with similar brain injuries, functional outcomes varied from child to child. “So, I began wondering what could be the potential mechanisms of these differences in outcome”, Cengiz says.

Peter Ferrazzano, MD – Slide of the Week

Adolescent traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health concern, resulting in over 35,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. each year. While neuroimaging is a primary diagnostic tool in the clinical assessment of TBI, our understanding of how specific neuroimaging findings relate to outcome remains limited. Our study aims to identify imaging biomarkers of long-term neurocognitive outcome after severe adolescent TBI.

Pelin Cengiz, MD

Astrogliosis following hypoxia-ischemia (HI) related brain injury plays a role in increased morbidity and mortality in neonates. Recent clinical studies indicate that the severity of brain injury appears to be sex-dependent and that male neonates are more susceptible to the effects of HI resulting in worse neurological outcomes compared to females with comparable brain injuries.