Epigenetic Effects on Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery (EETR)

University of Pittsburgh

Status

Completed

Conditions

Traumatic Brain Injury

Orthopedic Injury

Study type

Observational

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT04186429

1K01HD097030-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

STUDY19040402

Details and patient eligibility

About

Methylation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is involved in both the biological encoding of childhood adversity and neuroplasticity following traumatic brain injury (TBI). This research will characterize BDNF methylation during recovery from TBI in children and investigate this novel biomarker as a potential biological mechanism underlying the known association between childhood adversity and poorer neurobehavioral outcomes following TBI in childhood. Findings from this research will contribute to an improved understanding of why some children display good recovery following TBI, whereas many others suffer from chronic neurobehavioral impairments.

Full description

Unexplained heterogeneity in outcomes following pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most critical barriers to the development of effective prognostic tools and therapeutics. The addition of personal biological factors to our prediction models may account for a significant portion of unexplained variance and advance the field towards precision rehabilitation medicine. The overarching goal of the Epigenetic Effects on Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery (EETR) study is to investigate an epigenetic biomarker involved in both childhood adversity and post-injury neuroplasticity to better understand heterogeneity in neurobehavioral outcomes following pediatric TBI. The primary hypothesis is that childhood adversity will be associated with poorer neurobehavioral recovery in part through an epigenetically mediated reduction in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in response to TBI.

EETR is an observational, prospective, longitudinal concurrent cohort study of children aged 3-18 years with either TBI (n=200) or orthopedic injury (n=100), recruited from the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Participants complete study visits acutely and at 6- and 12-months post-injury. Blood and saliva biosamples are collected at all time points-and CSF when available acutely-for epigenetic and proteomic analysis of BDNF. Additional measures assess injury characteristics, pre- and post-injury child neurobehavioral functioning, childhood adversity, and potential covariates/confounders. Analyses will characterize BDNF DNA methylation and protein levels over the recovery period and investigate this novel biomarker as a potential biological mechanism underlying the known association between childhood adversity and poorer neurobehavioral outcomes following pediatric TBI.

Enrollment

401 patients

Sex

All

Ages

3 to 18 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

-hospitalized overnight for a non-penetrating complicated mild to severe TBI as defined by the lowest post-resuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score or orthopedic injury.

Complicated mild TBI is defined as a GCS of 13-15 with neuroimaging indicating intracranial or parenchymal injury or depressed/displaced skull fracture. Moderate TBI is defined as GCS 9-12. Severe TBI is defined as GCS 3-8. Children are included in the OI group if they sustain a bone fracture, excluding to the skull or face, without any signs of head trauma or brain injury (e.g. nausea/vomiting, headache, loss of consciousness, GCS below 15 at any point).

Exclusion criteria

non-English-speaking child or non-English-speaking parents/guardians
documented or parent-reported history of previous TBI/concussion requiring overnight hospitalization
pre-injury neurological disorder or intellectual disability
pre-injury psychiatric disorder requiring hospitalization
sensory or motor impairment precluding study measure completion
pregnancy at the time of study participation
participants are also excluded if at least one biosample is not able to be collected within 7 days of the injury