In a study from Switzerland and Germany, scientists found that antibodies that heal the brain after a stroke can be delivered via nasal spray in mice.
Ischemic strokes occur when an artery in the brain becomes blocked, preventing blood from circulating.
These strokes typically result in the death of oxygen-starved brain cells, which in turn leads to disabilities throughout the body.
Prior research has shown that the brain can repair itself after a stroke, but only to a certain degree.
These studies also have found that certain antibodies can help the brain heal by curbing the activity of Nogo-A, a compound found to inhibit brain healing.
But it has been difficult to get the antibodies to the brain because they are too large to pass through the blood-brain barrier.
In the current study, the team took a new method and examined putting the antibodies in a nasal spray.
Some drugs might be able to sneak past the blood-brain barrier by taking a different path into the brain—traversing long-fibered nerve cells that stretch from passages in the upper part of the nose directly into the brain.
To find out if the same might be true for antibodies, the researchers created a nasal spray for use on mice with induced strokes.
The strokes induced in the mice were all identical and all involved killing brain cells used to control the front paws.
Each of the mice was tested on its ability to carry out a certain task both before and after the stroke.
The team then gave the nasal spray every day for two weeks to mice and tested the mice to see if there was any improvement in symptoms.
They found that those given the antibodies saw task improvements of 60% on average, while those given a placebo saw improvements of just 30%.
The researchers also found that new nerve fibers had sprouted in the brains of the treated mice.
If you care about stroke, please read studies that diets high in flavonoids could help reduce stroke risk, and a MIND diet could slow down cognitive decline after stroke.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and morning exercise is linked to the lowest risks of heart disease and stroke.
The study was conducted by Daphne Correa et al and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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