The research group of professors Masahiro Nishibori and Isao Date has clarified the mechanism of brain swelling that occurs after traumatic brain injury caused by traffic accidents etc and developed a new medical treatment for acute brain swelling. The research group has developed a brain injury model using rats. In the model rat, a protein called HMGB1 was released from the nuclei of nerve cells extracellularly at the injury site. Suppression of cerebral swelling and cerebral blood-vessel permeability were achieved more than 80% by administering anti-HMGB1 monoclonal antibodies, which have been found to protect the blood-brain barrier, to the injury site. The rats also showed a marked improvement of paralyzed limb movement. Intracerebral inflammation occurs when the brain is injured; gene expression of molecules involved in inflammation reactions was also strongly suppressed by the administration of anti-HMGB1 antibodies. Antibody therapy was able to reduce brain swelling more than 50% even when administered three hours after injury, thus, this therapy is likely to open up possibilities to apply actual clinical settings.
Ref. Annals of Neurology, On-line (2012.4.4.)
Contact Information:
Mototaka Senda, Ph.D.
Intellectual Property Office, Organization for Research Promotion and Collaboration
US Representative, Fremont, California USA
TEL: 1-510-797-0907
Email: takasenda@okayama-u.ac.jp
Masahiro Nishibori, M.D., Ph.D.
Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama Japan
Isao Date, M.D., Ph.D.
Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama Japan
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