Title:Therapeutic Hypothermia and Neuroprotection in Acute Neurological Disease
Volume: 26
Issue: 29
Author(s): Kota Kurisu, Jong Youl Kim, Jesung You and Midori A. Yenari*
Affiliation:
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California 94121,United States
Keywords:
Hypothermia, pharmacology induced hypothermia, stroke, traumatic brain injury, cardiac arrest, hypoxic-
ischemic encephalopathy.
Abstract: Therapeutic hypothermia has consistently been shown to be a robust neuroprotectant in
many labs studying different models of neurological disease. Although this therapy has shown great
promise, there are still challenges at the clinical level that limit the ability to apply this routinely to
each pathological condition. In order to overcome issues involved in hypothermia therapy, understanding
of this attractive therapy is needed. We review methodological concerns surrounding therapeutic
hypothermia, introduce the current status of therapeutic cooling in various acute brain insults,
and review the literature surrounding the many underlying molecular mechanisms of hypothermic
neuroprotection. Because recent work has shown that body temperature can be safely lowered using
pharmacological approaches, this method may be an especially attractive option for many clinical
applications. Since hypothermia can affect multiple aspects of brain pathophysiology, therapeutic
hypothermia could also be considered a neuroprotection model in basic research, which would be
used to identify potential therapeutic targets. We discuss how research in this area carries the potential
to improve outcome from various acute neurological disorders.
