BMC Neuroscience: A new way to protect brain damage in newborns.

, June 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Biovalley BIOON/--- hypoxia may be the highest risk of death in newborns, leading to brain damage, epilepsy, stunting and deathIt affects millions of babies worldwide every yearcurrent treatments for the disease are limited and rarely effective, in a recent study, researchers in China and Australia have now reported a key breakthrough to help protect newborns suffering from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)(photo:a study led by Kunming Medical University in China and the University of South Australia identified the role of a mitochondrial protein called COX5a in protecting neurons with out of oxygenexperiments show that when these cells are incubated at low oxygen levels, the reduction of COX5a leads to neuronal deathIn contrast, increased COX5a levels protect cells in the event of hypoxiaresearchers believe that COX5a works with TPI, another metabolic enzyme that works in neuronal protection and may be key to preventing brain damage in low-oxygen infantsDrMohammed Al-Hawwas, research assistant at UniSA,, said he hoped the findings would lead to a preventive drug that inhibits cell death under low oxygen conditionsDral-Hawwas,, says cryogenic therapy is the current standard treatment for HIE, in which the newborn's brain is cooled to help slow the spread of cell damage and minimize brain damage, but with limited effect"The main reason it doesn't work well is that the molecular mechanisms of cell damage in HIE are still unclear, so we found it significant." (Bio Valley Bioon.com)source:Researchers report a key oed o help life from brain damage original origin: Jiang, Y., et al (2020) COX5A over-expression s r BMC Neuroscience.
doi.org/10.1186/s12868-020-00565-5.
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