The pathological processes of neurodegeneration and neurodegenerative changes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) are closely related to microglia. The pathophysiological functions of microglia are closely correlated to their different cell subtypes. Disease-related microglia (DAM) are a special subtype of microglia, which recently discover on the lesions of degenerative diseases of the central nervous system. DAM are identified as important cells that induce neurodegeneration. The in-depth discussion of DAM role in pathological mechanism of neurodegeneration after TBI provides new clues for understanding and treating neurodegeneration after TBI; therefore, this article focuses on the above content and summarizes the research progress of DAM and neurodegeneration after TBI.

The pathological process continues to evolve for a long time after acute phase of traumatic brain injury (TBI), often coupling with neurodegeneration and neurodegenerative complications. Microvascular dysfunction and blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction caused by neurovascular unit (NVU) dysfunction are closely related to the pathological process of many neurodegenerative diseases. The study on the pathological mechanism of neurovascular unit dysfunction is a promising research field of TBI-related neurodegeneration, and also provides a new idea for the treatment of neurodegeneration after TBI. Therefore, this article mainly reviews these.