Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
Health

How to prevent brain damage after trauma

Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Oct, 2014 07:39 AM
  • How to prevent brain damage after trauma
A treatment to prevent the body's immune system from killing brain cells can reduce the brain damage caused by head injuries, a study co-authored by an Indian origin researcher has found.
 
An immune-based treatment reduced the size of brain lesions, the experiments on mice showed.
 
The treatment called CAP (competitive antagonist peptide) was successful because it stops the immune system from attacking the brain, the researchers said.
 
If the findings apply to humans, this would help prevent brain damage after accidents, they added.
 
The researchers were testing the theory that blows to the head cause brain damage, in part, because of the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, allowing the immune cells in the blood to come into contact with brain cells and destroy them.
 
So they hypothesised that mice, missing a vital immune component, would have less brain damage from trauma, and that a treatment which blocks a component of the immune system would prevent damage.
 
The component they were working on was CD74, which plays a crucial part in the immune system's response to disease causing agents.
 
"The data support the hypothesis that neuro-degeneration following TBI (traumatic brain injury) is dependent upon antigen processing and requires CD74," said co-author Sanjib Mukherjee from Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Texas in the US.
 
They tested this theory by a range of tests involving a total of 32 mice.
 
The mice that received the CAP treatment had smaller brain lesions, suggesting that it did reduce the damage caused by brain trauma.
 
The study appeared in the open access journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications.

MORE Health ARTICLES

Women at greater stroke risk from resistant hyper-tension

Women at greater stroke risk from resistant hyper-tension
The condition known as Resistant Hyper-tension increases stroke risk by 35 percent in women and 20 percent in elderly patients, according to new research....

Women at greater stroke risk from resistant hyper-tension

Caffeinated 'energy' drinks bad for heart

"Energy" drinks which are so popular during physical exercise and even otherwise among children and younger adults can cause heart problems, a research shows....

Caffeinated 'energy' drinks bad for heart

Wine good for your heart only if you exercise

Wine good for your heart only if you exercise
If you think moderate wine drinking can protect against cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs), you are probably right: Just mix daily exercise to it....

Wine good for your heart only if you exercise

World's first battery-less pacemaker in the works

World's first battery-less pacemaker in the works
In a revolutionary breakthrough for heart patients, scientists have come up with a way to power a cardiac pacemaker with an alternative energy source - the heart motion....

World's first battery-less pacemaker in the works

New blood test to reliably detect TB in kids

New blood test to reliably detect TB in kids
About one million children per year develop tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, but unfortunately detecting TB in children has been a challenge as the...

New blood test to reliably detect TB in kids

Now, 'electronic nose' to detect diarrhoea

Now, 'electronic nose' to detect diarrhoea
In what could lead to faster diagnosis of diarrhoea and stomach cramps, researchers have developed an "electronic nose" that can sniff the highly infectious bacteria that causes...

Now, 'electronic nose' to detect diarrhoea