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Health See other Health Articles Title: Breakthrough in delivering drugs to the brain A new way of delivering drugs to the brain has been developed by scientists at the University of Oxford. They used the body's own transporters - exosomes - to deliver drugs in an experiment on mice. The authors say the study, in Nature Biotechnology, could be vital for treating diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Muscular Dystrophy. The Alzheimer's Society said the study was "exciting" and could lead to more effective treatments. Research barrier One of the medical challenges with diseases of the brain is getting any treatment to cross the blood-brain barrier. The barrier exists to protect the brain, preventing bacteria from crossing over from the blood, while letting oxygen through. However, this has also produced problems for medicine, as drugs can also be blocked. In this study the researchers used exosomes to cross that barrier. Exosomes are like the body's own fleet of incredibly small vans, transporting materials between cells. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote Many potential drugs have not been properly tested because you couldn't get enough of them into the brain” End Quote Dr Susanne Sorensen Alzheimer's Society The team at Oxford harvested exosomes from mouse dentritic cells, part of the immune system, which naturally produce large numbers of exosomes. They then fused the exosomes with targeting proteins from the rabies virus, which binds to acetylcholine receptors in brain cells, so the exosome would target the brain. They filled the exosomes with a piece of genetic code, siRNA, and injected them back into the mice. The siRNA was delivered to the brain cells and turned off a gene, BACE1, which is involved in Alzheimer's disease. The authors reported a 60% reduction in the gene's activity. "These are dramatic and exciting results" said the lead researcher Dr Matthew Wood. "This is the first time this natural system has been exploited for drug delivery." Customised The research group believes that the method could modified to treat other conditions and other parts of the body. Dr Wood said: "We are working on sending exosomes to muscle, but you can envisage targeting any tissue. "It can also be made specific by changing the drug used." The researchers are now going to test the treatment on mice with Alzheimer's disease to see if their condition changes. The team expect to begin trials in human patients within five years. Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "In this exciting study, researchers may have overcome a major barrier to the delivery of potential new drugs for many neurological diseases including Alzheimer's. She said the blood-brain barrier had been an "enormous issue as many potential drugs have not been properly tested because you couldn't get enough of them into the brain." She added: "If this delivery method proves safe in humans, then we may see more effective drugs being made available for people with Alzheimer's in the future." Dr Simon Ridley, head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "This is innovative research, but at such an early stage it's still a long way from becoming a treatment for patients. "Designing drugs that cross the blood brain barrier is a key goal of research that holds the promise of improving the effectiveness of Alzheimer's treatments in the future."
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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
This should scare the living fuck out of people. Not because it'll help people, but because if the powers that be wanted to truly fucking kill people, they could put this in a city water supply, and annihilate people without killing themselves, or turning the world into a toxic waste dump. One massive dose into a city water supply, and you could also turn people into mindless slaves if the stuff was paired up with another drug.
It is better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not. - Tommy The Mad Artist. I went to Chernobyl, and all I got was this glow in the dark T-shirt. - Tommy The Mad Artist.
It will be the one dosage "instant" chemical labotomy, leaving no scars. And who are they kidding? Human research is most likely currently in progress in mental institutions, v.a. assisted care facilities, and old folks homes.
If memory serves me (no joke intended), it seems they are paying a lot of attention to Alzheimer's patients lately. They are the perfect victims for a wholesale "assisted suicide" program. Might as well call it murder. As Henry Kissinger puts it, they are useless eaters.
I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant
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