This novel method can deliver drugs to the brain

A potentially new approach to deliver therapeutics more effectively to the brain has been discovered by researchers.

Have you heard about this novel method? © Shutterstock

According to the findings, done on mice, research could have implications for the treatment of a wide range of diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and brain cancer. Yes, you have heard it right! A novel method has been found by the researchers which will help to deliver drugs to your brain.

Reportedly, according to lead author Maiken Nedergaard from the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in the US, it is a considerable clinical challenge to improve the delivery of drugs to the central nervous system. The brain's waste removal system could be harnessed to transport drugs quickly and efficiently into the brain, suggested the findings of the study.

Reportedly, the study taps the power of the glymphatic system which is the unique process of the brain to remove waste that was first discovered by Nedergaard in the year 2012. It involves a plumbing system that piggybacks on the brain's blood vessels and pumps cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) through the tissues of the brain by flushing away waste.

In the study, published in the journal JCI Insight, the researchers took benefit of the mechanics of the glymphatic system to deliver drugs into the brain and administered antibodies directly into CSF. Then, the team injected the animals with hypertonic saline which is a treatment used to reduce intracranial pressure on patients with traumatic brain injury.

Reportedly, the saline triggers an ion imbalance which pulls CSF out of the brain., New CSF delivered by the glymphatic system flows in to take its place, carrying the antibodies with it into brain tissue, one the occurrence. A new imaging system by customising a macroscope to non-invasively observe the proliferation of the antibodies into the brains of the animals was developed by the researchers.