News - Brain's good news

[Joao Paulo Carvalho <joaocarv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Good news from BBC to share with you :
---------------------------------
             Genes help brain recapture  youth

             As the brain ages, many cells shrink but few die
             Withered brain cells could bloom again using gene therapy

             techniques to restore them to their former glory,
scientists
             have said.

             The finding could help doctors develop new therapies for
             diseases such as Alzheimer's, which causes a breakdown in

             brain function.

             It also reinforces scientists understanding of how the
brain
             works and suggests that old brain cells do not die, they
             simply shrivel.

             The technique has been shown to restore the brain cells
in
             monkeys - although an ongoing study is examining whether
it
             reinvigorates memory and thinking - and the researchers
are
             seeking permission to test it on patients with
Alzheimer's
             disease.

             Cells survive

             Dr Mark Tuszynski, of the University of California, San
             Diego, led the study and explained how his team sees the
             ageing process of the brain.

                                 "We've all heard the dogma
                                 that we lose 10,000 neurones
                                 (brain cells) a day after the age
                                 of 20," he said. "Well, that is
                                 false. That doesn't happen."

                                 A count of cells in the cortex - a
                                 key area in the brain involved in
                                 thinking - showed that very few
                                 were lost with age, he said.

                                 However, cells in the part
                                 known as the basal forebrain,
                                 were dramatically affected by
                                 age and had stopped producing
             certain chemicals - a change that affects thinking
ability in the cortex.

             "These cells are like the air traffic controllers of the
brain," Dr
             Tuszynski said.

             The cells were not dead, however, and when genes that
make
             nerve growth factor (NGF) - an essential chemical found
in
             the brain - were injected into the brain, they were
revived.

             Human tests next

             The researchers used eight monkeys with an average age of

             23 - the monkey equivalent of the late 60s to 70s in
humans.

             The researchers inserted the NGF gene into skin cells and

             then injected the modified cells into the front of the
monkeys'
             brains. Four monkeys got injections of skin cells without
the
             gene.

             "We restored the number of cells we could detect to about

             92% of normal for a young monkey and size of the cells
was
             restored to within 3%," Dr Tuszynski said.

             The application of this technique to Alzheimer's - which
             destroys chemical messengers used by the cells of the
brain
             to communicate with each other - will need to be tested
in
             humans, as animals do not suffer the disease in the same
             way.

             The researchers have already applied to the US Food and
             Drug Administration for permission to run human trials,
             although it would be a number of years before they could
tell
             if the treatment was effective.

             The study was published in the Proceedings of the
National
             Academy of Sciences journal.
----------------

Cheers ,
   +----| Joao Paulo de Carvalho   |------ +
   |         joaocarv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx     |
   +--------| Salvador-Bahia-Brazil |------+