# Cinnamon and traumatic brain injury

> **NIH VA I01** · JESSE BROWN VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Traumatic brain jury (TBI) and associated co-morbidities are important contributors of
disability among military personnel. Therefore, it is an urgent need to find an effective, a
safe and an economical solution for this. Axonal injury is an important contributor to
the behavioral deficits observed following TBI. It is believed that axonal injury during
TBI is potentiated by neuroinflammation and demyelination and/or failure to
remyelination. Cinnamon is a commonly used flavoring material and its metabolite
sodium benzoate (NaB) is a widely-used food preservative and a FDA-approved drug for
the treatment of urea cycle disorders and non-ketotic hyperglycinemia in children. Here,
we will examine an exciting hypothesis that cinnamon metabolite NaB binds to the
ligand-binding domain of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta (PPARβ)
(Specific aim I) to induce anti-inflammation in microglia and promote maturation of
OPCs (Specific aim II), resulting in neuroprotection in a mouse model of TBI (Specific
aim III). A positive outcome of this cutting-edge merit proposal will delineate NaB as a
new nontoxic ligand of PPARβ and enhance the possibility of attenuating microglial
activation, promoting remyelination and treating TBI patients with cinnamon and its
metabolite NaB as primary or adjunct therapy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10086312
- **Project number:** 5I01BX005002-02
- **Recipient organization:** JESSE BROWN VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** KALIPADA PAHAN
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-01-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10086312

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10086312, Cinnamon and traumatic brain injury (5I01BX005002-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10086312. Licensed CC0.

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