From myelin debris to inflammatory responses: a vicious circle in diffuse axonal injury.

Based on current knowledge and our preliminary study, in this paper we hypothesized a novel mechanism in secondary injury of diffuse axonal injury (DAI): (1) myelin debris from injured axons triggers undesirable inflammation and up-regulates the expression of cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-2; (2) inflammatory response is involved in DAI and (3) will lead to further axonal injury. That just forms a vicious circle in DAI. The key mission to prove this theory is to investigate the downstream effects of inflammatory process on the secondary injury in DAI. Appropriate methods are also discussed, as well as the significance in future treatment of DAI.