A new study led by researchers in Australia is giving us further insight into how a novel ultrasound technique could help treat Alzheimer's disease. The studies have described how focused ultrasound can be used to weaken the blood-brain barrier in the brain cells of Alzheimer's' patients, hinting at the possibility of improving the uptake of the drugs that are designed to treat and kill the disease.
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The blood-brain barrier and Alzheimer's
Anthony White, the lead researcher on the project, said that "the blood-brain barrier is a semipermeable barrier that lines blood vessels in the brain and importantly protects brain tissue, but that protective function also prevents the uptake of drugs and therapies targeting brain diseases."
Scientists and researchers have been trying to explore and understand the relationship between the blood-brain barrier and Alzheimer's disease for years now. Early studies on animals have revealed that focused ultrasound may actually help the brain in clearing toxic protein that is associated with neurodegeneration.
The study has offered a very specific investigation and analysis into how these ultrasounds pulses can affect the blood-brain barrier inside the brain of an Alzheimer's patient.
White also said that their study "is the first to look at how the blood-brain barrier cells from human patients can be disrupted to improve the uptake of Alzheimer's therapies. Building on previous studies that have explored if ultrasound could be used to reduce the amyloid build up in the brains of mice and other animal models."
This research took human-induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, from patients with a rare genetic mutation that makes all of them likely to develop the disease. The iPSCs are then enticed into becoming brain endothelial cells to try and serve as a model for the blood-brain barrier in the brain of an Alzheimer's patient that is affected.
They inject microbubbles into the cells
The ultrasound treatment involves injecting lipid microbubbles in large cells. And when these microbubbles are exposed to focused ultrasound, they can then generate tiny temporary disruptions to the blood-brain barrier. The scientists then compared these to a control brain endothelial cells derived from healthy iPSCs.
Lotta Oikari, first author on the new study said that "the treatment generated openings in the monolayer of the blood-brain barrier of all patients, but the brain endothelial cells of healthy controls repaired themselves quicker than the Alzheimer's patient cells. The blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer's patients was slower to repair, indicating they would be more receptive to drugs and treatments for longer and that brain ultrasound treatment may have to be adjusted differently depending on the type of disease the patient has."
Clinical trials are now on their way. These tests are investigating the safety of focused ultrasound techniques that are treating symptoms of the disease. While this raises the possible benefits of this new technique, it also suggests various kinds of neurogenerative diseases that can result in the ultrasound influencing blood-barrier in highly disease-specific ways.
