They found none of the current anti-diabetic medications had any positive effects on these
blood vessel defects.
'The fact we are seeing the
blood vessels leaking, independent of tau and amyloid, when people have cognitive impairment on a mild level, suggests it could be a totally separate process or a very early process,' said senior author Dr Berislav Zlokovic, chair and professor of physiology and neuroscience at USC.
"We believe these findings represent an entirely new way of thinking about how
blood vessels are formed and, ultimately, how stem cells can be used to treat disorders related to
blood vessel malfunction," said researcher Nobuyuki Takakura.
By contrast, GT198 expression was essentially nonexistent in normal oral cavity tissue that did not have this abnormal proliferation of
blood vessels.
The initial state of the
blood vessel has a great effect on the analysis result of the
blood vessel model.
The Johns Hopkins team's solution is important because networks of new
blood vessels, assembled in the lab for transplanting into patients, could be a boon to people whose circulatory systems have been damaged by heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses.
There is a parallel with the "wet" form of the sight disorder agerelated macular degeneration, in which
blood vessels grow behind the retina, Prof Jefferies believes.
Previous attempts at
blood vessel regeneration have focused on the cells that line artery walls rather than the support cells.
A DISCOVERY that makes it possible to speed up or slow down the growth of
blood vessels could yield new ways of tackling cancer and heart disease, it was claimed.
"But it does appear that having a healthy
blood vessel structure in the brain is really a big help to the brain."
"In one type of stroke, blood flow is stopped because the
blood vessel is constricted and or blocked," he says.
MC: We are identifying signaling molecules that can stimulate
blood vessel growth, or angiogenesis, but at the same time prevent vessels from becoming leaky.
In preliminary studies, the experimental medication Macugen--which is administered directly into the eye--was shown to inhibit abnormal
blood vessel growth and stabilize
blood vessel leakage, resulting in improved Vision by three lines or more on standard eye charts in 26 percent of patients.
Activation of the VEGFR-1 receptor by VEGF leads to the release of a gaseous molecule called nitric oxide that promotes
blood vessel growth in the body.
