Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability and one of the greatest unmet needs in medicine and public health. TBI not only has devastating effects on patients and their relatives but results in huge direct and indirect costs to society. Although guidelines for the management of patients have been developed and more than 200 clinical trials have been conducted, they have resulted in few improvements in clinical outcomes and no effective therapies approved for TBI. It is now apparent that the heterogeneity of clinical TBI is underlain by molecular phenotypes more complex and interactive than initially conceived and current approaches to the characterization, management and outcome prediction of TBI are antiquated, unidimensional and inadequate to capture the interindividual pathophysiological heterogeneity. Recent advances in proteomics and biomarker development provide unparalleled opportunities for unraveling substantial injury-specific and patient-specific variability and refining disease characterization. The identification of novel, sensitive, objective tools, referred to as biomarkers, can revolutionize pathophysiological insights, enable targeted therapies and personalized approaches to clinical management. In this Research Topic, we present novel approaches that provide an infrastructure for discovery and validation of new biomarkers of acute brain injury. These techniques include refined mass spectrometry technology and high throughput immunoblot techniques. Output from these approaches can identify potential candidate biomarkers employing systems biology and data mining methods. In this Research Topic, we present novel approaches that provide an infrastructure for discovery and validation of new biomarkers of acute brain injury. These techniques include refined mass spectrometry technology and high throughput immunoblot techniques. Output from these approaches can identify potential candidate biomarkers employing systems biology and data mining methods. Finally, suggestions are provided for the way forward, with an emphasis on need for a multidimensional approach that integrate a panel of pathobiologically diverse biomarkers with clinical variables and imaging-based assessments to improve diagnosis and classification of TBI and to develop best clinical practice guidelines.

Due to injuries sustained in sports and in combat, interest in traumatic brain injury (TBI) has never been greater. This book will fulfill a gap in understanding of what is occurring in the brain following injury that can subsequently be detected in biological fluids and imaging.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the developme

Presents the most up-to-date clinical and experimental research in neurotrauma in an illustrated, accessible, comprehensive volume.

"With the development of polypeptide ionization processes for mass spectrometry and the rapid processing of large-scale datasets with bioinformatics, researchers now have the tools necessary to propel neuroproteomics research to new levels. In Neuroproteomics: Methods and Protocols, experts in the neurological and analytical sciences present experimental details for applying proteomics to the study of the central nervous system (CNS) and its dysfunction through trauma and disease. Divided into four convenient sections, this collection covers CNS animal models used for neuroproteomics research, methods for separating and analyzing discrete subcomponents of the neuroproteome, large-scale approaches for CNS proteome characterization and quantification, as well as methods that evaluate biofluids and translate neuroproteomic results into clinical platforms. As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include brief introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls." "Authoritative and cutting-edge, Neuroproteomics: Methods and Protocols includes the clear "how-to" information needed to critically assess what can be accomplished in the field and how to best perform and evaluate neuroproteomic experiments in one's own research." --Book Jacket.

Many people naturally assume that the claims made for foods and nutritional supplements have the same degree of scientific grounding as those for medication, but that is not always the case. The IOM recommends that the FDA adopt a consistent scientific framework for biomarker evaluation in order to achieve a rigorous and transparent process.

Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders is the summary of a workshop convened by the IOM Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders to examine opportunities to accelerate early phases of drug development for nervous system drug discovery. Workshop participants discussed challenges in neuroscience research for enabling faster entry of potential treatments into first-in-human trials, explored how new and emerging tools and technologies may improve the efficiency of research, and considered mechanisms to facilitate a more effective and efficient development pipeline. There are several challenges to the current drug development pipeline for nervous system disorders. The fundamental etiology and pathophysiology of many nervous system disorders are unknown and the brain is inaccessible to study, making it difficult to develop accurate models. Patient heterogeneity is high, disease pathology can occur years to decades before becoming clinically apparent, and diagnostic and treatment biomarkers are lacking. In addition, the lack of validated targets, limitations related to the predictive validity of animal models - the extent to which the model predicts clinical efficacy - and regulatory barriers can also impede translation and drug development for nervous system disorders. Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders identifies avenues for moving directly from cellular models to human trials, minimizing the need for animal models to test efficacy, and discusses the potential benefits and risks of such an approach. This report is a timely discussion of opportunities to improve early drug development with a focus toward preclinical trials.