Adenosine and TBI
P. Kochanek, E. Jackson, C.E. Dixon, J. Carcillo, R. Clark, S. Graham, M. Bell, C. Robertson, C. Goodman, Z. M, P. D. Adelson, D. Marion.

Work in this area investigates the role of the endogenous neuroprotectant adenosine in both experimental and clinical TBI. Effects of adenosine on cerebral metabolism and blood flow are being studied, along with investigation of novel methods augmenting adenosine levels in the injured brain. This work involves a collaborative effort between both the Safar Center and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Clinical Pharmacology.

Time course of cerebral dialysate levels of adenosine and xanthine in a 29 year-old patient with severe TBI. A jugular venous desaturation (outlined by the box) resulted from an expanding hematoma was associated with marked increases in brain interstitial levels of adenosine and xanthine. Jugular venous desaturation resolved after surgical decompression, with resolution of the marked increases in adenosine and xanthine. This work was recently presented at the Annual Meetings of the Society for Critical Care Medicine and the National Neurotrauma Society (see Bell et al, Critical Care Medicine 26[Suppl 1]:A31, 1998) and represents a collaborative effort among Drs. Patrick Kochanek, Claudia Robertson, and Edwin Jackson at the Safar Center, the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas, and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Clinical Pharmacology.

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