Neuro Rehab, the UK's leading event for rehabilitation professionals, brings you the latest research findings from studies conducted around the world. These studies explore various pioneering treatments for patients affected by neurological conditions or injuries, and potential new ways of improving diagnosis and long-term outcomes.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Novel treatment method reduces ALS symptoms in mice
A researcher at the University of Missouri has made a promising breakthrough in the quest to help people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neurodegenerative disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
In a recent study, Smita Saxena showed that a natural molecule called GM1 can reach the brain when it’s wrapped inside a tiny fat-based bubble. In early laboratory testing, this approach helped improve ALS symptoms.
ALS is difficult to treat because the disease involves many breakdowns in the brain that compound over time, causing muscle weakness, slurred speech and fatigue.
Previous attempts to successfully deliver an ALS drug to the brain have failed because of the blood-brain barrier.
This protective layer of cells between the bloodstream and the brain protects against entry from harmful pathogens and toxic substances but also can keep therapeutics from reaching the brain.
Saxena’s research seems to have overcome that hurdle.
She worked with InnoMedica, a biopharmaceutical company in Switzerland, to use a delivery system known as Talineuren — a microscopic lipid bubble with GM1 packaged inside.
This delivery device has previously been used in a human clinical trial to give extra GM1 to patients with Parkinson’s disease.
When given to mice that had the same mutation that causes ALS, the therapy successfully crossed the blood-brain barrier and improved the health of their motor neurons, helping them move better.
If clinical trials prove the therapy is effective in slowing down the disease, researchers envision that it could one day be given to younger individuals who have inherited the disease-causing mutation, potentially halting ALS before symptoms emerge.
“Our NextGen Precision Health building is the perfect place for this research,” Saxena said. “By having research and clinical space under the same roof, we can speed up the process for translating foundational research into human clinic trials to ultimately help improve quality of life for Missourians and people worldwide.”
Traumatic Brain Injury: Eye tests reveal brain trauma more than a decade after concussions
People with concussions may continue to show subtle brain function differences more than a decade after injury, a new study suggests.
Researchers at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Marcus Institute for Brain Health used specialised eye movement testing to detect changes in attention, processing speed and impulse control in military service members.
“The eyes are directly connected to brain networks that control attention, information processing and decision-making,” said Jeffrey Hebert, the study’s lead investigator.
“By studying how someone’s eyes move during a cognitively demanding task, we can detect subtle brain changes that might not appear on a standard bedside exam or brain scan.”
The study evaluated 78 military veterans, including 38 with a history of mild traumatic brain injury and 40 without.
It found that veterans with prior concussions were more likely to demonstrate slower and less accurate eye movements along with reduced performance on certain attention-based tasks. Some of these differences were still measurable more than 10 years after the original injury.
The findings could have important implications for long-term concussion care.
“Standard imaging tools such as MRI scans often appear normal after mild brain injury, making persistent symptoms difficult to verify objectively,” Hebert said.
“Cognitively challenging eye movement assessments may provide clinicians with an additional tool to better understand ongoing cognitive concerns and more precisely tailor rehabilitation strategies.”
Although the study focused on military veterans, the results may apply more broadly to athletes, first responders and civilians who have experienced concussions.
The team emphasises that most individuals recover well from mild traumatic brain injury. However, identifying those who continue to experience subtle effects could improve follow up care, long term monitoring and treatment planning optimizing healthier brain adaptation.
Multiple Sclerosis: “Killer” T cells linked to Epstein-Barr Virus may play a role in MS
Researchers in the US have uncovered a new clue to how Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) could contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS).
The study found that certain types of CD8+ “killer” T cells, immune cells that destroy damaged or infected cells, are more abundant in people with MS.
Some of these T cells target EBV, which suggests that the virus may trigger the damaging immune response seen in MS.
Scientists have known for several years that EBV, a common virus carried by about 95% of adults, is present in virtually everyone who develops MS.
“Looking at these understudied CD8+ T cells connects a lot of different dots and gives us a new window on how EBV is likely contributing to this disease,” said senior author Joe Sabatino, an assistant professor of Neurology who is a member of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Weill Institute for Neurosciences.
Until now, most MS research has focused on CD4+ T cells, which coordinate immune responses but do not directly kill cells.
Sabatino’s team decided to examine the CD8+ T cells directly in people. They analysed blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 13 patients with MS or early signs of the disease, as well as five people without MS.
The researchers then looked at CD8+ T cells that recognised specific proteins in each of these fluids.
In study participants without MS, the cells that recognised these proteins were similarly abundant in the blood and CSF. But in participants with MS, these cells were between 10 and 100 times more abundant in the CSF than in the blood.
This difference indicated that something unusual must be happening in the central nervous system and that the immune cells were responding to it.
The Epstein-Barr virus was also present in the CSF of most study participants, whether or not they had MS, and some of its genes were active. One of these genes was only active in people with MS, which suggests that it may be driving the overactive immune response characteristic of MS.
The findings are the latest to implicate EBV in autoimmune disease.
Some MS researchers have already begun testing therapies that target EBV.
“The big hope here is that if we can interfere with EBV, we can have a big effect, not just on MS but on other disorders, and improve the quality of life for many, many people,” Sabatino said.
Traumatic Brain Injury: Antibiotics may aid TBI recovery and prevent Alzheimer's
Removing harmful bacteria in the gut using antibiotics could reduce brain inflammation and the risk of developing Alzheimer's in patients following a TBI, a new study has found.
Researchers in Houston Methodist in the US discovered that short-term antibiotic treatment significantly reduced neuroinflammation after a TBI by altering the gut microbiome in animal models.
Two bacteria, Parasutterella excrementihominis and Lactobacillus johnsonii, were identified as drivers of cell repair and may also help regulate inflammation in other parts of the body.
“We found that antibiotic treatment following TBI can reduce harmful gut bacteria, decrease lesion size and limit cell death,” said Villapol, an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Houston Methodist.
"Our results support a gut–brain mechanism in which microbiome changes influence peripheral immunity and, in turn, neuroinflammation after TBI.”
Around 70% of immune system regulation is generated by the gut microbiome. When this balance is disrupted, communication between the brain and the gut can affect other organs.
“Our brains are constantly sending signals to the rest of our bodies. Following a traumatic brain event, those signals can get scrambled and disrupt other organs, including our digestive system,” Villapol explained.
“If the gut stays out of balance, the brain may have a harder time healing.”
Villapol’s lab is focused on investigating and developing new neuroprotective treatments to fight inflammation linked with neurodegenerative disease.
“If we can break neuroinflammation in the acute or chronic stage, we can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia,” said Villapol.