Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major health concern and leading cause of death and disability in young adults in the United Kingdom and worldwide; however, there is a paucity of disease modifying therapies for the treatment of TBI. This review investigates the potential of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) as a treatment pathway for TBI in adults. Relevant electronic databases were searched on December 18, 2019, and updated May 16, 2021. All English language articles with adult human or animal populations investigating RAS drugs as an intervention for TBI or reporting genetic evidence relevant to the RAS and TBI were screened. Eighteen pre-clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (n = 2269) and two clinical cohort studies (n = 771) were included. Meta-analyses of six pre-clinical RCTs (n = 99) indicated that candesartan improved neurological function over the short term (< 7 days: standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.19-1.03, I2 = 0%) and over the long term (≥ 7 days: SMD 1.06, 95% CI 0.38; 1.73, I2 = 0%) post-TBI. Findings were similar for most secondary outcomes. There was a suggestion of benefit from other RAS-targeting drugs, although evidence was limited because there were few small studies. There was insufficient evidence to enable strong assessment of these drugs on mortality post-TBI. We conclude that angiotensin-receptor blockers, especially candesartan, show positive outcomes post-TBI in pre-clinical studies with moderate quality of evidence (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation [GRADE]). More research into the effect of regulatory-RAS targeting drugs is needed. Clinical trials of candesartan following TBI are recommended, because there is strong and consistent evidence of neuroprotection shown by these pre-clinical studies.
Keywords: angiotensin-receptor blockers; neurology; renin-angiotensin system; traumatic brain injury.