Russia uses nanotechnology to treat neurodegeneration
Biochemists at Lomonosov University (Russia) have successfully tested a new method of treating neurodegenerative diseases, using nanotechnology to deliver drugs directly to the affected brain area.
To date, neurodegenerative diseases have been difficult to treat. From the outside, the brain is protected by the skull, and from the inside by a blood-brain "barrier". Thus, delivering drugs to the right place becomes very complicated, most of them cannot overcome this barrier. Biochemists from Lomonosov Moscow State University have used nanotechnology to deliver drugs to the affected area of the brain.
(Photo: phrei.org)
The drug is an antioxidant enzyme called "catalase," which is delivered directly into nerve tissue by macrophages. Catalase has an important advantage over other antioxidants because it is a catalytic enzyme. This enzyme molecule is able to selectively and efficiently process many of the active oxygen molecules in the area of inflammation.
In neurodegenerative conditions, foci of inflammation appear in the brain. Macrophages are able to penetrate through the 650 km capillaries of the blood-brain barrier and deliver necessary drugs to diseased nerve cells.
Reactive oxygen species, which are abundantly formed in cells during inflammation and tumor formation, simply “attract” immune cells to themselves. Therefore, the idea of hiding antioxidants in macrophages is well-founded.
A group of Russian biochemists have successfully tested the new treatment method on animals and are now preparing to test the new technology on human volunteers./.
According to (TTXVN) - VT
