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Published online 30 June 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.921
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Cellular 'puncture repair kit' may minimize brain trauma
Chemical compound could be key asset for hospital emergency units.
Researchers have devised a treatment that mechanically repairs burst cell membranes in the brain, somewhat like puncture sealants used in bicycle tyres, and could therefore help to avert brain damage after serious head injuries.
Brain-injured rats that are injected with a polymer called polyethylene glycol (PEG) soon after their injuries recover certain behavioural abilities better than untreated rats, report researchers in this week’s Journal of Biological Engineering1.
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This is a fascinating finding. What, I wonder, are the results from "clinical testing with naturally injured dogs" mentioned above? Dogs are much larger animals than rats, and it is possible they might be meaningfully evaluated for certain cognitive abilities -- in interacting with their owners for example... Are there perhaps valuable behavioral and long term data available from those studies?
Solutions of dextran were used for the treatment of brain damage, e.g., hemorrhagia, since decades. I do not see any difference between the solution of polyethylene glycol and dextran, as both polymers are electrically neutral and inert osmolytes. I wonder that results (in the article quoted) are presented as a breakthrough in brain damage treatment. Ludo