Brain Injury Disrupts Immune Cell Recycling in the Brain

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that after traumatic brain injury (TBI), the brain's immune system cells' internal recycling function slows dramatically, allowing waste products to build up and interfere with recovery from injury. Treatment with rapamycin helps lower neuroinflammation and promotes cellular recycling following TBI. The study suggests that designing drugs for patients that promote cellular recycling might reverse or prevent damage from TBI.