Latest Advances in Oxidative Stress and Brain Injury
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Neurobiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 September 2025 | Viewed by 18
Special Issue Editor
Interests: forensic pathology; sudden cardiac death; molecular mechanisms; traumatic brain injury & oxidative stress; immunohistochemistry; drugs of abuse; oxidative stress; maternal mortality; miRNA; forensic pathologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Recent research underscores the critical role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress in brain injury, spanning traumatic, degenerative, and endogenous insults. The excessive production of ROS due to excitotoxicity and depletion of the endogenous antioxidant system induces peroxidation of cellular and vascular structures, protein oxidation, and inhibition of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, causing oxidative cellular damage. While ROS imbalance disrupts cellular homeostasis—triggering lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, and mitochondrial dysfunction—new evidence highlights mitochondrial DNA damage, neuroinflammation, and blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption as key amplifiers of secondary injury. The increase in the defense mechanisms using exogenous antioxidants may be neuroprotective, particularly if they are given within the neuroprotective time window. Advances in neuroprotective strategies now target mitrial dysfunction (e.g., mitochondrial uncoupling agents) and microglial polarization to mitigate neuroinflammation. Though exogenous antioxidants (e.g., N-acetylcysteine, edaravone) show promise in preclinical models, clinical translation remains limited by bioavailability and timing. For diffuse axonal injury (DAI), interventions targeting axonal energetics (e.g., ketogenic diets) and calpain inhibition are under investigation. Despite logical rationale, a robust clinical validation of antioxidants is still needed, emphasizing the importance of biomarker-guided therapies and precision timing in future trials.
In this Special Issue titled “Latest Advances in Oxidative Stress and Brain Injury”, we invite front-line researchers and investigators to submit original research and review articles regarding topics including, but not limited to, the following:
- Measurement of ROS;
- Pathology of brain injuries;
- Traumatic brain injuries;
- Hypoxic–ischemic brain damage;
- Experimental models of brain injury;
- Targeted therapy of brain injuries;
- Drug abuse and ROS;
- Histological diagnosis of brain injuries;
- Epigenetics of brain injuries;
- miRNA and prognosis of neural damage;
- Novel approaches and proofs of principle in therapy;
- Quality of life after brain injury.
Prof. Dr. Vittorio Fineschi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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Keywords
- measurement of ROS
- pathology of brain injuries
- traumatic brain injuries
- hypoxic–ischemic brain damage
- experimental models of brain injury
- targeted therapy of brain injuries
- drug abuse and ROS
- histological diagnosis of brain injuries
- epigenetics of brain injuries
- miRNA and prognosis of neural damage
- novel approaches and proofs of principle in therapy
- quality of life after brain injury
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