Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41927598›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

Mild pediatric traumatic brain injury has sex-specific effects on neuroimmune cells and social behavior in rats.

Michaela R Breach, Brooke Schatz, Habib E Akouri, Zoe M Tapp, Alejandra Zaleta Lastra, Alexander E Weinstein, Minna Mohamed, Ashley E Walters, Reem Mohamed, Olimjon Toirov and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Michaela R BreachNeuroscience Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Brooke SchatzDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Habib E AkouriDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Zoe M TappNeuroscience Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Alejandra Zaleta LastraNeuroscience Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Alexander E WeinsteinDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Minna MohamedDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Ashley E WaltersDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Reem MohamedDepartment of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Olimjon ToirovDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Marissa A SmailDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Cole Vonder HaarDepartment of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Olga N Kokiko-CochranDepartment of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Kathryn M LenzDepartment of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. lenz.56@osu.edu.

Funding

Sex differences in neuroimmune function and developmental vulnerability to early life traumatic brain injuryR01NS130517 · NINDS · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI Kathryn M. Lenz · 2023 to 2026
$1.2M
Pediatric traumatic brain injury and early life stress effects on prefrontal cortex development and cognition: A role for microgliaF32NS141897 · NINDS · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI Marissa Ann Smail · 2025 to 2026
$151k
National Science Foundation GRFP: DGE1343012NINDS NIH HHS F32 NS141897NINDS NIH HHS R01NS130517
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases the risk for long-term physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, many of which can lead to challenges in daily life functioning. Our understanding of how pediatric TBI interferes with brain development to lead to long-term behavioral outcomes is still incomplete. Despite emerging evidence for sex-specific outcomes in people, few rodent studies have examined sex differences after pediatric TBI. Here, we investigated the impact of pediatric lateral fluid percussion injury on acute neuroimmune and chronic neurobehavioral outcomes in male and female Sprague Dawley rats. At 3 days post injury (DPI), both sham and TBI increased microglia immunoreactivity relative to naive controls and had sex-specific effects on astrocytes. TBI increased brain mast cells relative to naive controls at 3 DPI in both sexes, and this increase persisted in females at 7 DPI. Sham and TBI procedures increased juvenile social play behavior in males and rearing behavior in both sexes relative to naive controls. Pediatric TBI reduced adult social interaction and had sex-differential effects on social avoidance, with increased avoidance in TBI females and decreased avoidance in TBI males. Injury condition did not affect perineuronal nets or oxytocin immunoreactivity at 7 DPI or oxytocin in adulthood. These studies show that immune cells in the male and female brain are differentially sensitive to the acute and sub-acute neuroinflammatory consequences of pediatric head trauma, and that pediatric head trauma in rats has age- and sex-dependent consequences for social behavior.

Indexed as

Brain ConcussionBrain Injuries, TraumaticNeuroimmunomodulationSocial BehaviorAnimalsAstrocytesBehavior, AnimalBrainDisease Models, AnimalFemaleMaleMast CellsMicrogliaRatsRats, Sprague-DawleySex CharacteristicsAstrocyteDevelopmentMast cellsMicrogliaPediatricSex differencesSocial behaviorTraumatic brain injury

Identifiers

PMID41927598
PMCPMC13261153

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.