title: Oxidative stress in immature brain after traumatic brain injury.
abstract: High oxygen demand along with the abundance of readily oxidizable substrates yielding productive oxidative metabolism are required for the normal function of the brain. This necessitates the existence of the complex and multicomponent antioxidant system in the brain for protection against oxidative damage. However, during development, individual components of the antioxidant system are not equally expressed and not always sufficient to fulfill their tasks in a coordinated way. As a result, the developing brain may be more vulnerable to oxidative insults than the adult brain. Traumatic brain injury is one of the damaging acute impacts that challenge the brain antioxidant reserves by exposing them to a number of decompartmentalized prooxidant molecules. This review focuses on the sources and assessment of oxidative stress and the link between oxidative stress and cell death pathways in the immature brain after experimental and clinical traumatic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Critical Care Medicine, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Chidren's Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. bayihx@ccm.upmc.edu
authors.forename: Hülya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bayir
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Kochanek
authors.forename: Valerian E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Kagan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005609:Free Radicals; D007501:Iron; D010100:Oxygen