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The Relationship Between Inflammation and the Development of Cerebral Ischaemia and Hypoxia in Traumatic Brain Injury—A Narrative Review
 
 
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

A Semi-Automated and Unbiased Microglia Morphology Analysis Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats

by
Luke Sumberg
1,
Rina Berman
1,
Antoni Pazgier
2,
Joaquin Torres
3,
Jennifer Qiu
4,
Bodhi Tran
5,
Shannen Greene
6,
Rose Atwood
7,
Martin Boese
8,9 and
Kwang Choi
1,8,10,11,*
1
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
2
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
3
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
4
Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
5
Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, Bethesda, MD 20815, USA
6
Winston Churchill High School, Potomac, MD 20854, USA
7
Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
8
Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
9
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
10
Program in Neuroscience, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
11
Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
 
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(17), 8149; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178149
Submission received: 24 June 2025 / Revised: 15 August 2025 / Accepted: 19 August 2025 / Published: 22 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanisms and Implications of Traumatic Brain Injury and Neuroinflammation)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) affects over 40 million people every year. One of its features includes the activation of microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain. Microglia assume different morphological states depending on their level of activation, such as surveilling ramified and activated hypertrophic, ameboid, and rod-like microglia. These states can be distinguished by multiple features, including the shape, span, and branching of microglia. Male Sprague–Dawley rats sustained mTBI using the Closed-Head Impact Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration (CHIMERA) (3 times, 1.5 J per impact) or sham treatment. Four days after the injury, brains were collected and stained for microglia using the ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1 (Iba-1) antibody. Cortical injury sites were identified in a subset of CHIMERA animals. Using the MicrogliaMorphology ImageJ plugin and the MicrogliaMorphologyR package, 27 morphological features were quantified from individual microglia, and k-means clustering was used to classify microglia as ramified, rod-like, ameboid, and hypertrophic states. The CHIMERA injury altered microglia morphology features, which contributed to increased hypertrophic (activated) and decreased ramified (inactive) microglia compared to the sham controls. Combined with the clinically relevant mTBI paradigm and semi-automated/unbiased approach, the current findings may contribute to microglia morphology classification.
Keywords: mild traumatic brain injury; microglia morphology; neuroinflammation; sprague-dawley rats; cortical injury mild traumatic brain injury; microglia morphology; neuroinflammation; sprague-dawley rats; cortical injury

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sumberg, L.; Berman, R.; Pazgier, A.; Torres, J.; Qiu, J.; Tran, B.; Greene, S.; Atwood, R.; Boese, M.; Choi, K. A Semi-Automated and Unbiased Microglia Morphology Analysis Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26, 8149. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178149

AMA Style

Sumberg L, Berman R, Pazgier A, Torres J, Qiu J, Tran B, Greene S, Atwood R, Boese M, Choi K. A Semi-Automated and Unbiased Microglia Morphology Analysis Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2025; 26(17):8149. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178149

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sumberg, Luke, Rina Berman, Antoni Pazgier, Joaquin Torres, Jennifer Qiu, Bodhi Tran, Shannen Greene, Rose Atwood, Martin Boese, and Kwang Choi. 2025. "A Semi-Automated and Unbiased Microglia Morphology Analysis Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 26, no. 17: 8149. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178149

APA Style

Sumberg, L., Berman, R., Pazgier, A., Torres, J., Qiu, J., Tran, B., Greene, S., Atwood, R., Boese, M., & Choi, K. (2025). A Semi-Automated and Unbiased Microglia Morphology Analysis Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 26(17), 8149. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178149

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