UTHealth Houston awarded nearly $13M in grants to study treatments for traumatic brain injury

Nearly $13 million in federal grant funds to study treatments for traumatic brain injury, which kills an average of 190 people and hospitalizes another 600 in the U.S. every day, has been awarded to UTHealth Houston by the Department of Defense’s Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

FAU and Insightec Partner to Use Focused Ultrasound to Treat Neurological Disorders

This agreement will enable FAU and Insightec to collaborate to advance scientific knowledge about the use of focused ultrasound to treat brain diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. By harnessing acoustic energy, Insightec’s innovative technology uses focused ultrasound to treat diseases in different ways.

Mothers’ Obesity Damages Blood-brain Barrier in Offspring, Lean Foster Mothers’ Milk May Be Preventive Tool

Article title: Maternal obesity damages the median eminence blood-brain barrier structure and function in the progeny: the beneficial impact of cross-fostering by lean mothers Authors: Roberta Haddad-Tóvolli, Joseane Morari, Roberta Barbizan, Vanessa C. Bóbbo, Rodrigo S. Carraro, Carina Solon, Nathalia…

Alzheimer’s Disease: Making Connections between Air Pollution and Neurodegeneration

Exposure to urban air pollutants such as ozone (O3) is increasingly linked with Alzheimer’s disease; yet because ozone cannot travel from the lungs to the brain, the mechanism by which it contributes to development of Alzheimer’s has been poorly understood.…

Stem Cell-Gene Therapy Shows Promise in ALS Safety Trial

Cedars-Sinai investigators have developed an investigational therapy using support cells and a protective protein that can be delivered past the blood-brain barrier. This combined stem cell and gene therapy can potentially protect diseased motor neurons in the spinal cord of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal neurological disorder known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Whole blood exchange could offer disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, study finds

A novel, disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease may involve the whole exchange of blood, which effectively decreased the formation of amyloid plaque in the brains of mice, according to a new study from UTHealth Houston.

Exercise May Correct Leakage of Blood-brain Barrier Caused by High Blood Pressure

Article title: Transcytosis within PVN capillaries: a mechanism determining both hypertension-induced blood-brain barrier dysfunction and exercise-induced correction Authors: Matheus Garcia Fragas, Vanessa Brito Cândido, Gustavo Gastão Davanzo, Carla Rocha-Santos, Alexandre Ceroni, Lisete C. Michelini From the authors: “The present set…

Breaching the Blood-Brain Barrier to Deliver Precious Payloads

RNA-based drugs may change the standard of care for many diseases, making personalized medicine a reality. So far these cost-effective, easy-to-manufacture drugs haven’t been very useful in treating brain tumors and other brain disease. But a team of researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University has shown that a combination of ultrasound and RNA-loaded nanoparticles can temporarily open the protective blood-brain barrier, allowing the delivery of potent medicine to brain tumors.

Leaky Blood-Brain Barrier Linked to Brain Tissue Damage in Brain Aging Disease

As people age, changes in the tiniest blood vessels in the brain, a condition called cerebral small vessel disease, can lead to thinking and memory problems and stroke. These changes can also affect the blood-brain barrier, a layer of cells that protect the brain from toxins circulating in the blood. Now a new study has found that people with cerebral small vessel disease who have blood-brain barrier leakage had more brain tissue damage over two years than people with less blood-brain barrier leakage. The study is published in the March 24, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Could leak in blood-brain barrier cause poor memory?

One of the keys to having a healthy brain at any age is having a healthy blood-brain barrier, a complex interface of blood vessels that run through the brain. Research shows the blood-brain barrier leaks as we age, and we lose cells called pericytes. But could this leak and the difficulties in recall be the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease?

Brain Disease Research Reveals Differences Between Sexes

In APL Bioengineering, University of Maryland scientists highlight a growing body of research suggesting sex differences play roles in how patients respond to brain diseases, as well as multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, and other brain ailments. They are urging their colleagues to remember those differences when researching treatments and cures.

Poison control: Chasing the antidote

A fast-acting antidote to mitigate the effects of organophosphate poisoning requires a reactivator that can effectively and efficiently cross the blood-brain barrier, bind loosely to the enzyme, chemically snatch the poison and then leave quickly. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is using neutron diffraction data towards improving a novel reactivator design.