According to researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, suppressing an enzyme in the brains of newborns suffering from deprivation of oxygen and blood flow halts a type of brain damage that is the leading cause of cerebral palsy, mental retardation and death.
The scientists show blocking the brain enzyme, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), prevents progressive brain damage triggered by the lack of oxygen and blood supply.
Chia-Yi Kuan, M.D. PhD, senior investigator on the study and a researcher in the divisions of Developmental Biology and Neurology at Cincinnati Children’s, said, “the experimental pre-clinical treatment involved putting a naturally occurring substance called plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) into the brains of newborn rats”.
Source: EurekAlert
