4 days ago
Why llama cells could be crucial to treating schizophrenia
The serious brain disorder causes people to interpret reality abnormally, and affects approximately one in 50 Irish adults between the ages of 18 and 65.
But the domesticated South American woolly animal might be able to help.
French researchers said this week they had used llama antibodies, or proteins that help to protect the immune system, to design a tiny fragment of an antibody known as a 'nanobody' that will trigger a neurotransmitter in the brain involved in regulating neural activity.
Neurotransmitters are chemical molecules that carry messages or signals from one nerve cell to the next target cell, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
No llamas were harmed in the study and researchers can identify nanobodies in a petri dish. In the past, llama antibodies have also proven effective in fighting Covid and other 'Sars-like' viruses.
When scientists at the Institute of Functional Genomics injected the molecule into the veins or the muscles, it was able to break the blood-brain barrier and effectively reach brain receptors.
In mice… it is sufficient to treat most deficits of schizophrenia
The barrier is a tightly locked layer of cells that defend your brain from harmful substances.
Studying the impact of the nanobodies in two tests using mice, the researchers found that they corrected cognitive deficits that were observed. There was an improvement of cognitive function with just one shot, and a prolonged effect over one week.
Clinical studies are now required to show that their findings could be a new avenue of treatment for schizophrenia.
'In humans obviously we don't know [yet], but in mice yes, it is sufficient to treat most deficits of schizophrenia,' molecular biologist Jean-Philippe Pin told Newsweek. He was a co-author of the research which was published in the journal Nature.
Dr Pin said medications currently given to schizophrenic patients 'treat the symptoms well, but less the cognitive deficits'.
The cause of the chronic condition remains unknown, but the World Health Organisation says it is thought that an interaction between genes and a range of environmental factors may be the reason.
'This research confirms the potential of nanobodies as a new therapeutic strategy for acting on the brain, with their use eventually being broadened to include the treatment of other neurological illnesses,' the institute said in a statement.
