Table 1.

Summary of the Drugs Used Against Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Neurodegeneration, Therapeutic Targets, and Implications

Drugs	Pathophysiology/Therapeutic Target/Mechanisms	Clinical Trial Identifier Number	Treatment Efficacy
Minocycline	Anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects.	Minocycline: NCT01058395; NCT02802631	Erythropoietin shows no beneficial effect in moderate or severe TBI patients.43
Methylprednisolone	Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation	Methylprednisolone: ISRCTN74459797; NCT00004759	Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects.44
Calpain/caspase inhibitors MDL 28170	Anti-apoptosis, Axonal Injury Protection	No Clinical studies have been reported	The selective calpain-2 inhibitor can reduce TBI-induced cell death.45,46
Rapamycin	Autophagic dysfunction, neuroinflammation	No clinical studies have been reported.	Reduce neuroinflammation, Apoptosis, cognitive dysfunction, and astrogliosis.47
SNX-111 (Ziconotide)	Voltage-gated N-type calcium channel blocker	No clinical studies	Reduces prolonged, trauma-induced calcium accumulation, and neurodegeneration.48
Corticosteroids	Reduce the intracranial pressure	No clinical studies	Anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective.49
Darbepoetin alfa	Reduce oxidative stress and apoptosis.	No clinical studies	Antioxidant and anti-apoptotic in nature.50
Dizocilpine	Non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist	No clinical studies	Glutamate receptor antagonist reduces neurodegeneration in brain injury.51
Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa)	Reversal of iatrogenic coagulopathy in trauma patients	Clinical studies have been conducted.	Early administration of rFVIIa in this swine TBI model reduced neuronal necrosis and intracranial hemorrhage.52
Methylphenidate (Ritalin)	Central Nervous Stimulant	No clinical studies conducted	Attenuates attentional complaints after TBI.53