pyrophosphate and Brain-Injuries--Traumatic

Trauma-induced calcification is the pathological consequence of complex injuries which often affect the central nervous system and other parts of the body simultaneously. We demonstrated by an animal model recapitulating the calcification of the above condition that adrenaline transmits the stress signal of brain injury to the calcifying tissues. We have also found that although the level of plasma pyrophosphate, the endogenous inhibitor of calcification, was normal in calcifying animals, it could not counteract the acute calcification. However, externally added pyrophosphate inhibited calcification even when it was administered after the complex injuries. Our finding suggests a potentially powerful clinical intervention of calcification triggered by polytrauma injuries which has no effective treatment.

Topics: Adrenergic Antagonists; Animals; Brain Injuries, Traumatic; Cardiotoxins; Diphosphates; Disease Models, Animal; Epinephrine; Female; Gene Expression Regulation; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Muscle, Skeletal; Ossification, Heterotopic; Receptors, Adrenergic; Vascular Calcification; X-Ray Microtomography