[ad_1]
A handful of patients with Alzheimer's disease engaged in a daring experiment: they let scientists direct sound waves into the brain to temporarily agitate an opening in its protective shield
substances from leaching into the bloodstream – but it can also block drugs for Alzheimer's disease, brain tumors and other neurological diseases.
Canadian researchers have reported that technology called focused ultrasound can drill holes in this barrier. quickly sealed – a step towards a day using the non-invasive device to push brain treatments through.
"This has been a major goal of neuroscience for decades, this idea of a safe and reversible way to break the blood," said Dr. Nir Lipsman, a neurosurgeon at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto. , who led the study. "It's exciting."
The findings were presented at the International Conference of the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago and published in Nature Communications.
This first-stage research, conducted in only six people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease Fragile blood vessels could resist the bruise without bleeding or other side effects – it has not tested Potential Therapies.
More safety tests are needed but "it's certainly promising," said Dr. Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging. was not involved in the study . " What is remarkable is that they can do it in a very targeted way, they can target a very specific brain region. "
Alzheimer's is not the only one target. A similar safety study is underway in Lou Gehrig's disease. And researchers are testing whether the tool is helping more chemotherapy reach the right place in people with a deadly brain tumor called glioblastoma.
"We do not want to widely open the blood-brain barrier everywhere. We want to open the blood-brain barrier where we want the treatment to be administered, "says Dr. Graeme Woodworth of the Medical Center of the University of Maryland, who will lead a brain tumor study that will begin shortly
. long tried different strategies to overcome the blood-brain barrier with little success. The blood vessels in the brain are lined with cells that form tight junctions, almost like a zipper. The barrier lets in some small molecules. Often, treatments for brain diseases are too big to pbad easily.
The new approach: Scientists inject microscopic bubbles into the bloodstream. With an MRI scanner, they aim at a specific area of the brain. Then they emit ultrasonic waves through a helmet-like device at that location. The pulsations of energy make the microbubbles vibrate, releasing these junctions similar to zippers in the hope that the drugs can slip there.
Within minutes, the Lipsman team saw a medical dye appear on brain scans of Alzheimer's patients. A repeat badysis the next day showed that it was closed again. The patients repeated the procedure a month later.
The researchers reported no serious side effects, and no deterioration of cognitive function. The study was funded by the non-profit organization Focused Ultrasound Foundation
"This is not painful or anything," said Rick Karr, of Everett. , Ontario, first participant in the study
. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011. The doctors said that the study would not address his memory problems, but "I feel privileged," Karr said in an interview. "I could help somebody else on the road.
A French company, CarThera, is testing a different ultrasound technique for brain tumors, using an implant attached to the skull during surgery.
For non-invasive ultrasound, the InSightec device maker has permission from the Food and Drug Administration to begin the Maryland tumor trial and a small American study on Alzheimer's [19659002ThistimeresearcherswilltargetAlzheimer'sbrainsmoredeeplyoftheRockefellerNeuroscienceInstituteoftheUniversityofVirginiaWestAndtheywillmeasurewhetherthemerefactofopeningthebarriercouldhelpthebodyeliminatethestickyplaquesthatarethehallmarkofAlzheimer'safterstudiesonthemousesuggestedthatitwasapossibility
. If studies of the next stage conclude, it is safe to try.
"The blood-brain barrier is no longer prohibited," said Rezai.
[ad_2]
Source link
