Xenon gas may become an unexpected treatment for m. The results of an experimental investigation showing that inhalation of xenon gas reduced neurodegeneration and increased protection in preclinical models of the disease Alzheimer’s have made researchers design a clinical trial in patients, a hopeful first step.
The study of the General Brigham and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis points to a novel and noble approach: the use of xenon gas. The study found that inhalation of xenon gas suppressed neuroinflammation, reduced brain atrophy, and increased protective neuronal states in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. The results are published in ‘Science Translational Medicine‘ and a phase 1 clinical trial of the treatment is scheduled to begin in early 2025 in healthy volunteers.
So far, most treatments being used to treat Alzheimer’s disease focus on amyloid plaques and tau tangles that accumulate in the brain.
“This is a very novel discovery that demonstrates that simply inhaling an inert gas can have a profound neuroprotective effect,” says lead author and co-author of the study, Oleg Butovsky.
One of the main limitations in the field of Alzheimer’s disease research and treatment is that it is extremely difficult to design drugs that can cross the blood-brain barrier, but xenon gas does.
“It’s exciting that in both animal models that model different aspects of Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid pathology in one model and tau pathology in another model, xenon has had protective effects«says the main author David M. Holtzman.
The causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not fully understood; There is currently no cure and more effective treatments are needed. Alzheimer’s disease, characterized by the buildup of proteins in the brain, including tau and amyloid proteins, disrupts communication between nerve cells and causes progressive brain abnormalities that lead to neuronal damage and ultimately death. . Microglia, the brain’s most important primary immune cells, act as “first responders” when something goes wrong in the brain and play a key role in regulating brain function at all phases of development. Microglia dysregulation is a key component of Alzheimer’s disease.
Microglia
Butovsky’s lab previously designed a way to study how microglia respond to neurodegeneration and confirmed that a specific phenotype of microglia can be modulated in a way that is protective in Alzheimer’s disease.
In the study now being published, mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease were treated with xenon gas, which has been used in human medicine as an anesthetic and as a neuroprotectant to treat brain injuries.
Xenon gas penetrates the blood-brain barrier and passes from the bloodstream directly into the fluid surrounding the brain. The team found that inhalation of xenon gas reduced brain atrophy and neuroinflammation and improved nest-building behavior in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. It also induced and increased a protective microglial response that is associated with amyloid clearance and improved cognition.
These findings identify the promising potential of xenon inhalation as a therapeutic approach that could modify microglial activity and reduce neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease.
He clinical trial at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which will initially only enroll healthy volunteers, is scheduled to begin in the coming months.
“If the clinical trial goes well, the possibilities for using xenon gas are enormous,” says co-author Howard Weiner. “It could open the door to new treatments to help patients with neurological diseases.”
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