Experimental and Clinical Approaches in the Pursuit of Novel Therapeutic Strategies for Perinatal Brain Injury and its Neurological Sequelae

Perinatal brain injury is an important cause of developmental impairment and of permanent neurological deficits such as cerebral palsy, autism and intellectual disability in children, which are major burden to those afflicted, their families, and society. The progression of perinatal brain injury depends on the balance between persistent injury and the repair response, which can be modulated by external therapy. Interventions against brain injury during the neonatal period have shown promising results in reducing the prevalence of cerebral palsy and other neurological sequelae, such as cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disability, retinopathy of prematurity. However, these interventions are not successful in all cases, especially for very preterm infants, and the current therapy for preterm brain injury is still mainly supportive. Therefore, there is a pressing need for a better understanding of cell death mechanisms of perinatal brain injury to develop strategies for conducting comparative and translational studies on how to reduce brain injuries and promote injury reparation in both full- and preterm infants and improve neurological outcomes.

This Research Topic will focus on the prevention of perinatal brain injury and the neurological complications, specifically the signaling pathways of insults induced cell death and inflammation, and from these understandings experimental or hypothesized intervention strategies. We welcome the submission of Original Research articles as well as Review articles that discuss the mechanisms of perinatal brain injury and its neurological outcomes as well as novel therapeutic strategies. Manuscripts based on both animal and human studies are welcome.