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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Treating diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's is a challenge because drugs have to be able to cross the blood–brain barrier. As a result, the doses administered must be high and only a small fraction reaches the brain, which can lead to significant systemic side effects. To solve this issue, the postdoctoral researcher Jean-Michel Rabanel, under the supervison of Professor Charles Ramassamy, at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (NRS), is optimizing polymer-coated nanoparticles to increase their permeability across this barrier and consequently the delivery of encapsulated drugs in the brain.
In their recent study, the team demonstrated the effectiveness of a specific polymer with zwitterion properties. These molecules are neutral overall, and have an equal number of positive and negative charges to mimic the molecules on the cell's surface. The researchers compared the characteristics of two polymer coatings on the polylactic acid (PLA) nanoparticles, a biocompatible material easily cleared by the body.
The first coating, made of polyethylene glycol (PEG), had already been tested on the zebrafish, whose transparent body makes it possible to see the distribution of nanoparticles virtually in real time. The second coating, made of zwitterionic polymer, was compared under the same conditions.
[...] According to Société Alzheimer de Québec, neurodegenerative diseases currently affect more than 565,000 Canadians, including 152,121 in Québec.
Journal Reference:
Jean-Michel Rabanel, et al. Nanoparticle shell structural cues drive in vitro transport properties, tissue distribution and brain accessibility in zebrafish, Biomaterials (2021). (DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121085)
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 08 2021, @01:45PM (4 children)
As always.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Immerman on Monday November 08 2021, @02:30PM (3 children)
I'm not sure I see what possible malicious use there is.
I mean, the entire point is to reduce the blood-level dosage necessary to deliver therapeutic quantities of some chemical to the brain in order to reduce side effects to the rest of the body. That means you already have to deliver something to their blood stream, and if your intent is malicious you probably don't care about side effects.
I would be more concerned about the possibility of the carrier molecules accumulating within the brain - without a lymphatic system the brain is particularly vulnerable to the accumulation of anomalous waste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 08 2021, @03:12PM (2 children)
Any potential psychoactive compound previously stopped by blood-brain barrier, now can be delivered on target. Still not sure?
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday November 08 2021, @04:21PM (1 child)
Name a compound *stopped*, instead of just *reduced*, by the blood-brain barrier, that doesn't already have an analog that can cross the boundary, AND has profitable enough malicious potential to be worth the effort, and I'll consider it.
There might well be some recreational applications, but malicious? We already have plenty of poisons, "truth" serums, memory-blockers, etc. that work just fine. Sure, maybe you have to give someone 100x the dosage for the psychoactives to work, but so what? Use this to lower the dosage in a malicious application, and it's *still* a non-malicious use - you're using it specifically to reduce the physical side effects in your victim.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 08 2021, @04:46PM
Do you really have no shame?
If "an analog" is 1000x more complicated to synthesize, or 1000x as fast to decompose, or 1000x as noxious; do you insist you could not imagine any of those options?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 08 2021, @06:04PM
Excreted in urine.
They'll end up in the world's oceans.
Just like unused mod points eventually end up in the oceans.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 08 2021, @07:44PM
Can this drug work on Republicans? Or is their lack of brains a hard block?