Regulation of the immune response and therapeutic strategies in traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health problem and the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Current treatments for TBI focus on relieving symptoms and preventing complications but have a limited effect on promoting neural tissue repair and restoring functional capacity. Immunomodulatory therapy has significant potential in TBI as a targeted and personalized treatment that can promote nerve regeneration and reduce complications, thereby improving the long-term prognosis of TBI. To understand the mechanism of TBI and explore treatment options by regulating the immune response, keywords such as “traumatic brain injury,” “immune response,” and “therapeutics” were entered into the PubMed database. Subsequently, 150 articles were retrieved and downloaded, and 111 articles published within the past five years were summarized to gain insights into the field. The background of TBI, the role of the immune response in TBI, the pathophysiology of TBI, and the therapeutic strategies for TBI were reviewed. We found that the immune response can play both protective and damaging roles following TBI. If the immune response is not appropriately controlled, the condition of TBI may worsen over time. Importantly, we summarized the latest treatment methods for TBI, which aim to prevent secondary damage after TBI by modulating the immune response to facilitate the repair of neural damage post-TBI. Overall, this review provides a treatment reference for clinicians and researchers to understand the effective management and treatment of TBI based on immune regulation.