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Review
. 2020 Jan 28;21(3):827.
doi: 10.3390/ijms21030827.

The Neuroprotective and Biomarker Potential of PACAP in Human Traumatic Brain Injury

Denes Toth  1 , Andrea Tamas  2 , Dora Reglodi  2
Affiliations
Review

The Neuroprotective and Biomarker Potential of PACAP in Human Traumatic Brain Injury

Denes Toth et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury remains a growing public health concern and represents the greatest contributor to death and disability globally among all trauma-related injuries. There are limited clinical data regarding biomarkers in the diagnosis and outcome prediction of TBI. The lack of real effective treatment for recovery calls for research of TBI to be shifted into the area of prevention, treatment of secondary brain injury and neurorehabilitation. The neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) has been reported to act as a hormone, a neuromodulator, a neurotransmitter and a trophic factor, and has been implicated in a variety of developmental and regenerative processes. The importance of PACAP in neuronal regeneration lies in the upregulation of endogenous PACAP and its receptors and the protective effect of exogenous PACAP after different central nervous system injury. The aim of this minireview is to summarize both the therapeutic and biomarker potential of the neuropeptide PACAP, as a novel possible target molecule presently being investigated in several human conditions including TBI, and with encouraging results in animal models of TBI.

Keywords: PACAP; biomarker; neuropeptide; neuroprotective; traumatic brain injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The neuroprotective and biomarker potential of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP). Red boxes and circles indicate primary damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI), blue boxes and circles show secondary damage, while green boxes and circles indicate healthy tissue or the process (neuroprotection) leading towards regenerated tissue.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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