Anti-inflammatory Effects of Synaptamide in the Peripheral Immune System in a Murine Model of Traumatic Brain Injury
摘要
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces not only local neuroinflammation but also systemic immune responses involving peripheral organs such as the spleen. While synaptamide (N-docosahexaenoylethanolamine), an endogenous lipid mediator derived from docosahexaenoic acid, has demonstrated neuroprotective effects, its impact on peripheral immune regulation after TBI remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of synaptamide in a murine weight-drop TBI model. Male C57BL/6 mice were divided into five groups: “Control”, “Sham” (craniotomy only), “Sham + Syn” - craniotomy with synaptamide treatment, “TBI”, and TBI with synaptamide treatment. Synaptamide (10 mg/kg) was administered subcutaneously immediately after injury and then daily for 6 days. On day 7 post-TBI, analysis revealed that synaptamide significantly reduced proinflammatory cytokine levels in both serum (IL-1β by 23% (p < 0.05), IL-6 by 23% (p < 0.01), and TNF-α by 15% (p < 0.05)) and spleen tissue (IL-1β by 37% (p < 0.001), IL-6 by 30% (p < 0.001), and TNF-α by 34% (p < 0.01)) compared to untreated TBI animals. Histological evaluation exhibited synaptamide treatment decreased Iba-1-positive macrophage infiltration in the spleen by 36% and restored the white/red pulp ratio to near-normal levels (0.69 in the “TBI” group vs. 0.39 in the “TBI + Syn” group (p < 0.001)).These findings demonstrate that synaptamide exerts anti-inflammatory effects in the peripheral immune system following TBI, particularly through modulation of splenic macrophage activity and cytokine production. The results support synaptamide potential as a dual-action therapeutic agent capable of addressing both central and peripheral inflammatory responses after TBI.