A Complementary Strategy to Mitigate Radiation-Induced Cognitive Decline

Abstract Cranial radiation activates an upstream complement cascade component, C1q, leading to brain injury. Microglia-specific deletion of C1q prevents astrocyte and microglial activation, synaptic loss, neuroinflammation, and cognitive impairment. Therapeutically inhibiting complement activation may help mitigate radiation-induced cognitive decline. See related article by Markarian et al., p. 1732