Collaborate Disseminate
Getting traditionally administered drugs into the brain can be challenging, due to the body’s protective blood-brain barrier. There may be new hope, however, in the form of a patch that gets shoved up the patient’s nose.Continue ReadingCategory: Medica… Continue reading Gel patch may one day deliver MS drugs through the nose into the brain
Getting drugs into the brain is no easy feat, but the nose is emerging as one of the most direct routes. Now, researchers in the UK have developed a hydrogel that can be administered as a nasal spray, lining the tissue and delivering a common Parkinson’s drug straight to the brain.
Tags: Parkinson’s Disease, Brain, Blood-brain barrier, Drug, Drugs, Drug delivery, York University, King’s College London
Continue reading Nasal spray gel directly delivers Parkinson’s drugs to the brain
Research into an ultra-rare type of early-onset dementia has uncovered a novel genetic mutation that results in dysfunctional white blood cells and a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. The study suggests this newly discovered mechanism of neurodegeneration may play a role in more common types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Category: Science
Tags: Brain, Blood-brain barrier, Blood, Dementia, Neuroscience, Alzheimer’s Disease, Trinity College Dublin, New Atlas Audio
Continue reading White blood cell mutation may drive early stages of dementia
As a semi-permeable layer that protects vessels in the brain from harmful invaders, the blood-brain barrier is highly selective in what it does and doesn’t allow to pass through. This is helpful in stopping pathogens and toxins escaping the bloodstream and entering the organ, but poses a real problem when it comes to delivering drugs. A new particle that borrows chemical passports from neurotransmitters to slip through this defense could help overcome this problem, with the technique showing promise as a way of tackling Alzheimer’s and other conditions.
Tags: Tufts University, Blood-brain barrier, Alzheimer’s Disease, Brain, New Atlas Audio
Continue reading “Chemical passports” grant Alzheimer’s drugs entry to the brain
Brain cancers are particularly insidious for many reasons, not least of which is that the brain’s own defense mechanism often prevents treatment. But a new experimental technique has shown success in mice, with carbon nanoparticles able to sneak throug… Continue reading Cancer-killing nanoparticles don disguises to sneak into the brain