DHEAS repeated treatment improves cognitive and behavioral deficits after mild traumatic brain injury

A. Milman, O. Zohar, R. Maayan, R. Weizman, C. G. Pick*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is characterized by diffused symptoms, which when combined are called "post-concussion syndrome". Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) is a neuroactive neurosteroid. Previously, we have reported that closed head mTBI causes long lasting cognitive deficits and depressive-like behavior. In the present study we describe the effects of DHEAS on the behavior of mice that suffered closed head mTBI. Following the induction of mTBI, mice were treated once a week with DHEAS (s.c. 20 mg/kg) and their performance in the passive avoidance test and the forced swimming test (FST) were evaluated 7, 30, 60 and 90 days post-injury. The most important interactions were between injury and injection (passive avoidance; p < 0.001 and FST; p = 0.001), meaning that DHEAS has beneficial effects only when given to injured animals. Our results demonstrate that the long-term cognitive and behavioral effects induced by mTBI may be improved by a repeated weekly treatment with DHEAS.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)181-187
Number of pages7
JournalEuropean Neuropsychopharmacology
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2008

Funding

FundersFunder number
Tel Aviv University

    Keywords

    • Closed head trauma model
    • Cognitive deficits
    • Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS)
    • Depressive-like behavior
    • Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)

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