Georgia Technical University Nanoparticles Help Brain Recover After Stroke.

Tiny selenium particles could have a therapeutic effect on ischemic brain strokes by promoting the recovery of brain damage. Pharmacologists including X from the Georgia Technical University Research discovered that selenium nanoparticles inhibit molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the loss of brain cells after a stroke. An ischemic stroke happens when a supplying blood vessel to the brain is narrowed or obstructed. As a result, the brain gets too little blood. “This lack of blood can lead to brain tissue damage due to cellular toxicity, inflammation and cell death” X explains. “This will in turn lead to brain dysfunction and neurological complaints such as numbness, vision problems, dizziness and severed headache”. Ischemic stroke (Ischemic strokes occur when the arteries to your brain become narrowed or blocked, causing severely reduced blood flow (ischemia). The most common ischemic strokes include: Thrombotic stroke. A thrombotic stroke occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one of the arteries that supply blood to your brain) accounts for 87 percent of all strokes and is a significant cause of death. “So far no neuroprotective agents have been shown to produce any measurable improvement in health in cerebral stroke cases. Our results now demonstrated that selenium nanoparticles inhibit molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the loss of brain cells after a stroke”. According to X the new approach not only helps healing of brain damage caused by a stroke but also limits the extent of injuries by protecting brain cells during the event of a stroke itself. “During and after a stroke the limited blood supply to the brain induces oxidative tissue damage to the affected brain regions” he explains. “Selenium particles reduce this oxidative stress and the related cell death”. This happens because the nanoparticles affect the metabolism of nerve cells and suppress inflammation a major culprit of the harmful effects. “This stroke-induced brain inflammation can cause excessive accumulation of fluid which results in elevation of intracranial pressure (pressure inside the skull) and the clinical symptoms of a stroke”. X is enthusiastic about the discovery: “The designed nanoparticles are unique because of the neuroprotective effect and their safety. They are smart and can sense and target ischemic brain regions”. It is critical not to affect the healthy regions of the brain or other organs in order to reduce the side effects. “These nanoparticles are therefore advantageous over conventional drugs. They can be ‘programmed’ to specifically target the affected brain areas while regular drugs often get distributed all over the body and contaminate all organs” X says. For now the therapeutic nanoparticles are still at an experimental stage. “However” X says “in the future we will assess the effectiveness of this novel drug in patients”.