Researchers from the National Institutes of Health found that Jekyll and Hyde immune cells in the brain can eventually help repair the brain, but it can cause fatal swelling early after the injury. This shows that timing is important when performing treatment. These dual-purpose cells are called bone marrow monocytes, which are brain immune cells that are carried by the blood to the brain and tracked by NIH researchers. They can observe the brain's self-repair after injury in real time. This research was published in "Natural Neuroscience" and was supported by the Wall Research Program of the National Center for Neurology Stroke Research (NINDS).
INDS scientist and senior author of the study, Dr. Dorian McGavan said: “Repairing the brain after an injury is a very carefully coordinated process. Treating at the wrong time may do more harm than good.”
includes head injury and stroke. In some cases, cerebrovascular or cerebrovascular accident may occur. Dr. McGavern and Dr. Larry Latour, MD of NINDS, and colleagues observed that certain stroke patients experienced bleeding and cerebral edema after surgical removal of the blood clot that caused the stroke. Swelling, also called edema, can be fatal because it leads to a poor prognosis, compresses and further damages the brain structure.
In order to understand how vascular injury causes swelling and determine potential treatment strategies, Dr. McGavern and his team developed an animal model of cerebral vascular injury and the latest microscopic imaging technology to observe the brain's response to vascular injury. real time. After injury, immune cells called microglia in the brain are immediately mobilized to prevent blood vessel leakage. These "first responders" of the immune system stretch their arms and wrap them around ruptured blood vessels. Dr. McGawain's research team found that removing microglia can lead to irreparable bleeding and brain damage. A few hours later, the injured brain was invaded by circulating peripheral monocytes and neutrophils (or bone marrow monocytes). When bone marrow mononuclear cells move from the blood to the brain, each cell punctures the vascular system and the liquid mist enters the brain. When thousands of these cells are immersed into the brain at the same time, a large amount of liquid will enter the body at the same time, causing swelling. "At this stage of repair, monocytes are good and really want to help, but they are full of enthusiasm to enter the brain. This can be catastrophic tissue damage, or especially if it occurs around the brain stem. It can lead to life , Breathing and other functions," said Dr. McGovern. After the first surge, the monocyte subpopulation of immune cells enters the brain at a slower and less destructive rate and begins to repair blood vessels. Monocytes and repair-related microglia rebuild the damaged vascular network and reconnect within 10 days after damage.