Thymosin beta-4 crosses blood-brain barrier in animal stroke model

2094

At the Fourth International Symposium on Thymosins in Health and Disease in Rome, Italy, researchers from RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals reported on study findings in which thymosin beta-4 crossed the blood-brain barrier in an animal stroke model.

“When thymosin beta 4 (TB4) linked with rhodamine was injected into the peritoneal cavity in a rodent model of stroke, it was visualised outside of blood vessels and throughout the brain parenchyma. The leakage of TB4 in this rat model of embolic stroke confirmed our hypothesis that TB4 crossed the blood brain barrier since previous experiments using MRI and gadolinium showed compromise of the blood brain barrier in this model of embolic stroke,” reports Daniel Morris, senior staff physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA.

These experiments show the ability of TB4 to cross the blood-brain barrier, which is impermeable to most drugs. Thus, health care providers would potentially have a novel means to treat patients of neurological injury in which the blood brain barrier is compromised, such as stroke, by systemically administering TB4 to accelerate repair and regenerate damaged brain tissue.