Bomb Blasts Alter Brain Lipid Levels

MTorrice writes "About 320,000 soldiers returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have struggled with neurological problems associated with traumatic brain injury, according to the Rand Corporation. Some veterans experience symptoms, such as memory loss and anxiety, without noticeable physical signs of brain injury. Now researchers report a possible chemical signature: Levels of a certain lipid spike in the brains of mice exposed to mild explosions (abstract; full article paywalled). This lipid could serve as a way to diagnose people who are at risk of developing neurological disorders after a blast, the scientists say."

Comments

Nothing to worry about

[willpb]

The government says we should be able to live a content and productive life with only a partially functional brain.

Re:Nothing to worry about

[Luckyo]

Actually, that is arguably one of the reasons we progressed. More often then not leading thinkers and inventors who drove the progress getting us from hunter cavemen to where we are today where ones who couldn't perform optimally and compete with others. So they had to innovate to survive.

Nowadays we get Stephen Hawking and other like him, who would likely never have made it as hunters in original, genetically and morphologically same but culturally different phase of caveman hunters.

It can indeed be argued that this kind of thinking is against the very purpose of evolutionary process. But that doesn't mean that it's bad from our race's point of view.

I'll admit I haven't RTFAed

[Kelbear]

But I imagine the researchers barely restraining their smirks after submitting a proposal to blow up mice as their study.

Re:I'll admit I haven't RTFAed

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/worlds-scientists-admit-they-just-dont-like-mice,1256/

the Mythbusters are in trouble

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe Jamie, Adam, Kari and Grant can donate their brains to science to see if they show the same markers. It would make a great series finale!

I wonder if they could adapt this blood test

[idontgno]

Maybe as a routine locker room procedure for impact and contact sports like football (either kind). It would beat the current "3rd concussion, you're in the injured reserve" regime, especially if it picks up sub-symptomatic TBI.

Re:I wonder if they could adapt this blood test

[rs79]

"Moreover, these changes were accompanied by depletion of ceramides."

What happens if you put them back?

That is, two things seem to happen. An increase in ganglioside GM2 and depletion of ceramides.

In very rough terms overproduction of something tends to work itself out if the stimulus is mitigated. That is, if a bomb was going off every day and GM2 was constantly being produced, I'd worry, but a one time increase? Let's assume that goes away over time.

The depletion of of something is more interesting I think. It's unclear what they mean by depletion, whether they mean "there's less of it" or "there's none of it left" (is that even possible?).

At any rate, my first thought would be "put the stuff back" and see what happens. Of possible interest here is David Horrobin's 1985 paper on a phospholipid hypothesis for mental disorders. He maintains that a disruption in the bilipid layer where fatty acids are replaced with other molecules (trans fat being the worst) causes changes that render neurotransmitter receptors, large proteins that exist in the bilipid layer, compromised, and far far less efficient. This would also explain type II diabetes, especially the "the body makes enough insulin but can't seem to use it" part. And it would also explain depression, where the serotonin level is normal but the person is depressed until SSRI's increase the amount of serotonin to near dangerous levels.

The correct phospolipds would come from marine sources (oily fish: sardines, trout, salmon, tuna, mackerel etc) and certain terrestrial seeds (flax, chia) but not in many other places, there's a small amount in grass fed, but not corn fed, beef for example). Over time, consumption of these should replenish the bilipid layer with the correct phospholipids, but this will take months.

Probably not a good sign...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Given how vital lipids are to proper brain function(cellular function generally; but nerve tissue has tons of the things even by comparison to other tissues), it seems like a very ominous sign that blast trauma too minor to cause injuries visible even with an optical microscope causes noticeable changes in the lipids floating around... Even if the neural network isn't structurally disrupted at a visible scale, interference with lipids involved in chemical or electrical nerve signalling would still cause changes in how the network functions(since the characteristics of the paths are still changing, even if connections aren't being severed outright).

Re:Probably not a good sign...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I'm sure that we know less than we would like to(since invasive chemical sampling of the brain isn't really an option in humans except after death or in exceptional cases, and even in animals you can chop up whenever you want the brain is absurdly complex); but it probably helps that GM2 is also associated with Tay-Sachs disease, so at least there has been some incentive, in the form of a fairly rare but dramaticly unpleasant human disease, to explore GM2 and associated processes.
 
Given that there is presently no treatment or cure for Tay-Sachs and victims usually die fairly quickly even with supportive treatment, though, I'm guessing that we haven't learned everything we might like to know about the matter(you know that a genetic disorder must be bad when a special Jewish eugenics group pops up to try to prevent it...)

Re:progesterone and traumatic brain injuries

[nido]

testosterone promotes agression in the male brain by being converted to estrogen. Women usually feel really good when they're on a progesterone-high, and only get cranky when the progesterone goes away (triggering menstruation/childbirth).

Only brain LIPID levels?

[jeffb (2.718)]

Seems like a bomb blast would alter the level of everything in the brain. Of course, those levels should stabilize within a few seconds, with final values determined by the heights of the surfaces they land on.

Bomb blasts are BAD for you?

[arisvega]

Who would have thought!