Intracerebral haemorrhage, and bleeding into the brain tissue, is a devastating neurological condition affecting millions of people annually. It has a high mortality rate, while survivors are affected by long-term neurological deficits. No medication has been found to support brain recovery following hemorrhage.
In an international collaboration, researchers from the
Researchers suggest that cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor, a protein being currently tested for Parkinson’s disease treatment, also has therapeutic effects and enhances immune cell’s response after brain haemorrhage.
The authors found that the administration of cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor accelerates hemorrhagic lesion resolution, reduces brain swelling, and improves functional outcomes in an animal model of brain hemorrhage.
“Surprisingly, we found that cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor acts on immune cells in the bleeding brain, by increasing anti-inflammatory mediators and suppressing the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines that are responsible for cell signalling. This is a significant step towards the treatment of injuries caused by brain haemorrhage, for which we currently have no cure,” says Professor
Dr.
The administration of cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor also resulted in the alleviation of cell stress in the area that surrounds the hematoma.
Finally, the researchers demonstrated that systemic administration of cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor promotes scavenging by the brain’s immune cells after brain haemorrhage and has beneficial effects in an animal model of brain haemorrhage.
Original article:
Tseng, KY., Stratoulias, V., Hu, WF. et al. Augmenting hematoma-scavenging capacity of innate immune cells by CDNF reduces brain injury and promotes functional recovery after intracerebral hemorrhage. Cell Death Dis 14, 128 (2023).