Treatment immediately following stroke is not the most obvious path to take for the clinical development of therapies intended to improve drainage of cerebrospinal fluid via the glymphatic system, but nonetheless that is the approach taken by the research program noted here. A range of compelling evidence points to age-related impairment of the drainage of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain as an important issue, but is largely focused on the slow development of neurodegenerative conditions as a result of the buildup of metabolic waste in the brain. The immediate aftermath of a stroke is a very different scenario, amenable to different approaches to improvement of drainage channels, such as the non-invasive devices proposed here that would probably be infeasible for long-term use.
The "brain-draining lymphatics" are a set of drainage pathways that clear waste from the brain, with dysfunction of this "clean-up and drainage network" linked to Alzheimer's disease and other neurological and neurodegenerative diseases (NNDs). Researchers found that improving brain-draining lymphatic function can boost recovery following ischemic stroke and are now developing non-invasive devices that help the neck's lymphatic vessels pump more effectively, improving the clearance of excess fluid and harmful waste from the brain right after stroke has occurred - at a time when every second counts.
The researchers are also using advanced imaging techniques to study the brains of 140 participants. Initial studies have found that women have less lymphatic vessel coverage in the brain's outer layer compared to men, potentially leading to less efficient waste drainage and explaining why women are at higher risk or have worse outcomes for many NNDs, including stroke and Alzheimer's disease. "The brain was considered to be devoid of a lymphatic system. It wasn't until 2015 that two separate teams discovered that lymphatics in the brain's outer layer transport fluid and waste products from the brain to lymphatic vessels in the neck. We now know that this system plays a crucial role in keeping the brain healthy. By boosting this natural clean-up system, we hope to change how ischemic stroke and other NNDs are treated."
View the full article at FightAging
