Here’s how X-rays can help us understand neurodegenerative diseases
Research led by the Cnr has discovered that thanks to X-rays it is possible to investigate the origin and evolution of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and to identify possible early biomarkers. All the details
Understanding the origin and evolution of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis is still a challenge for medicine today, but a study by the Institute of Nanotechnology of the National Research Council of Rome (Cnr) conducted in collaboration with the Department of neurosciences of the University of Genoa and other international research institutions argues that X-ray phase contrast tomography can be an effective tool.
X-RAYS AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES
The research, published in Communications Physics , has shown that X-ray phase contrast tomography is an effective technique both for investigating the origin and evolution of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and for identifying possible early biomarkers.
HOW DOES IT WORK
This technique, the researchers explain, offers very high spatial and contrast resolution even in poorly absorbent tissues, such as the brain or spinal cord, revealing structures traditionally considered 'invisible' to X-rays: in fact, it is capable of generating images three-dimensional view of the sample analysed, allowing a visualization of the single cell to the entire organ and favoring the study of the interaction of the single structural units, among themselves and with the surrounding environment.
I STUDY
The study, which was also attended by colleagues from Sincrotrone Soleil (France) and Elettra – Sincrotrone Trieste, concerned in particular mouse models affected by autoimmune encephalomyelitis (which reproduces the mechanisms and effects of multiple sclerosis) with the aim of investigating , through X-ray phase contrast tomography (XPCT), the temporal evolution of tissue damage and inflammation in different organs, and to search for possible early biomarkers of the disease.
BECAUSE IT CAN BE USEFUL FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
As explained by Alessia Cedola, first researcher at Cnr-Nanotec and coordinator of the team that conducted the study: “Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelinating disease that causes progressive damage to the structures of the central nervous system. Its etiology is still uncertain, and the clinical manifestations highly variable: inflammatory processes involving cells of the immune system and axonal and neuronal damage".
THE HYPOTHESIS OF A LINK BETWEEN THE INTESTINES AND THE BRAIN
“Many studies, in the last decade, have reported the involvement of the gut-brain axis, underlining the possibility that intestinal alterations lead to brain dysfunction, and suggesting that a change in intestinal permeability could be the cause of this and other neurodegenerative diseases ”, continued Cedola.
“Our study – he added – therefore focused not only on the central nervous system, but also on the intestine of animals affected by autoimmune encephalomyelitis. The XPCT technique has made it possible to identify and monitor, at different pre-symptomatic stages of the disease, the structural and cellular alterations in different anatomical districts".
The work examined different organs – brain, spinal cord, optic nerve and intestine – describing the evolution of the damage: "Our results help to shed light on the development and progression of the disease, suggesting that the first pathological signs of the disease they are to be traced in the intestine and not in the nervous system, as until now believed”, said Francesca Palermo, researcher of the Cnr-Nanotec team.
“It is an important result, of which we are proud. Our goal is to develop these studies so that they can soon find application on humans”, concluded Giuseppe Gigli, director of Cnr-Nanotec and coordinator of TecnoMed Puglia – Nanotechnology technopole for precision medicine in Puglia.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/ecco-come-i-raggi-x-possono-aiutarci-a-comprendere-le-malattie-neurodegenerative/ on Mon, 12 Dec 2022 10:22:04 +0000.