A big concern in medicine studies
is finding a way of how the blood-brain barrier can be protected from malign
viruses and diseases, and how special medication can be passed through that
barrier to treat the disease, without the medication being rejected by the own
barrier. The blood-brain barrier is essential because it works just as the
immune system, it protects the blood and brain by identifying viruses,
diseases, and harmful chemicals and getting rid of them. This is such an
important part of our system because, would you imagine yourself without a
blood-brain barrier? How would our body protect our brain from harmful
chemicals and viruses?
The
blood-brain barrier is being protected by endothelial cells that form the walls
of the capillaries. One of the top ten leading diseases in the United States,
in this case Alzheimer’s disease, attacks the epithelial cells lining the
brain’s blood vessels by shrinking them, and introducing harmful chemicals into
the brain. This barrier carries the brain’s main fuel, which is glucose, as
well as amino acids. It would be of great help for scientists to find a way of
treating this disease through the blood-brain barrier, because not only the
disease might be reduced or completely be cured, but it could also help them
figure out ways of introducing medications to treat other problems, such as
brain cancers.
According
to an article from Medical News Today, scientists have found a new method for
efficiently transporting antibodies across the blood-brain barrier in
preclinical mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. This transfer of antibodies
through the blood-brain barrier was associated with a marked improvement in
amyloid reduction in the brain of the mouse model. Per-Ola Freskgard, the
Preclinical Project Leader for this technology platform at Roche pRED, said
that "if we are able to clinically validate the preclinical results observed with the Brain Shuttle technology, it could lead us to a way to test investigational drugs in a variety of brain disorders".
Yes, just like you I think the Blood- Brain Barrier is a very interseting subject. It is a wall that is strong and impenetrable to many diseases. The barrier does a good job at keeping harmful chemicals, viruses, and other harmful things out but it also keeps things out that might be beneficial. For example the issue of brain cancer that you mentioned. I read brain cancer is extremely difficult to combat because most medications are unable to cross the barrier. So we can conclude the barrier helps us in many ways but can also be problematic.
ReplyDeleteThe anatomy and physiology of the human body continues to amaze me at how it works to keep us healthy and alive. The blood-brain barrier is just one of those fascinating features that we should never take for granted since it does protect us from deadly viruses and diseases. It was pretty interesting to learn the research scientists are performing on mice regarding the possibility of a cure for Alzheimers, and like you mentioned, it would be awesome if that research could somehow open the door for brain cancer treatments as well.
ReplyDelete