Overview
- Pitt and UPMC Children’s researchers report in the Journal of Neurotrauma that children hospitalized for complicated mild to severe TBI show reduced BDNF DNA methylation soon after injury.
- Nearly 300 participants were enrolled at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, with blood drawn within roughly 30 hours and again at six and 12 months.
- Compared with orthopedic-injury controls, TBI patients had significantly lower acute BDNF methylation, which stabilized and returned to control-like levels by 12 months.
- The methylation signal did not correlate with Glasgow Coma Scale ratings, underscoring gaps in conventional measures of clinical severity.
- Lead author Lacey Heinsberg and senior author Amery Treble-Barna say the team will extend analyses genome-wide and evaluate links to long-term neurobehavioral outcomes, with intervention responsiveness still unproven.