Over the past decade, scientists have made many life-saving advances in all areas of medicine. They have created molecular agents to target neurodegenerative diseases. But they were stopped right there by the blood-brain barrier. They were unable to turn their findings into approved treatments.
And now, according to a recent article in The Healthsite, a new drug-delivery system has been created that has been successful in delivering therapeutic agents through the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier protects the brain from toxins or disease-causing agents but allows vital nutrients to pass through.
About the New Delivery System
A research team of physicians and bioengineers from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital are credited for their work on the new delivery system.
When examining traumatic brain injury in a mouse model, the team found that the newly created delivery system was responsible for at least three times the amount of accumulation in the brain than current, conventional delivery methods. The researchers were also pleased to discover its therapeutic efficacy.
Therapeutics After Traumatic Brain Injuries
There is only a short period after a traumatic brain injury when the BBB is temporarily breached and therapeutics can be delivered into the brain. When the BBB is repaired, which is usually in several weeks, doctors have been unable to deliver drugs to the brain.
Co-author Dr. Nitin Joshi, the Center for Nanomedicine’s associate bioengineer, explained that the scientists encapsulated therapeutic agents into microscopic nanoparticles that could be transported into the brain regardless of the BBB’s condition.
Dr. Joshi believes that the new technology will allow doctors to treat patients with traumatic injury to the brain. This type of injury may lead to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. These diseases are known to develop after the blood-brain barrier has recovered.
Alzheimer’s and Surgery
On a similar note, the Alzheimer’s Society cites studies showing that elderly patients are at increased risk of short term memory and other cognitive complications after surgery.
Researchers are of the opinion that cell damage through surgery triggers an overabundance of inflammation in older brains. There are reports that surgery results in inflammation-causing cognitive decline. The exact process is currently not well understood.
Neurological Application
Co-author Dr. Jeff Karp captioned their approach as radically simple and that it can be applied to neurological disorders that require therapeutic agents to be delivered to the brain.
Dr. Rebekah Mannix of Boston Children’s Hospital Co-senior author added that the discovery would greatly affect disorders of the central nervous system by allowing the delivery of antibiotics and other drugs such as antineoplastic agents and neuropeptides to the brain.
About Neurological Disorders
There are more than six hundred neurological disorders, both rare and common. The United State’s National Library of Medicine reports that these diseases affect the brain, as well as the central and autonomic nervous systems.
There is a wide range of probable causes resulting from damage to the nervous system. Several examples are genetic disorders, infections, and brain, spinal cord, or nerve injuries.
Examples of neurological disabilities are autism, neuromuscular disorders, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and brain tumors.
Neuromuscular disorders involve diseases that affect the peripheral nervous system (PNS) which is outside the brain and spinal cord. The PNS consists of sensory and motor nerves connecting the spinal cord and brain to all areas of the body.
Researchers will surely take advantage of this new delivery platform as they will now be able to target neurodegenerative diseases.
