Stress may affect whether drugs reach brain
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuter) - A drug used on Gulf War soldiers may have
unexpectedly penetrated the brain, according to new research that raises
provocative questions about the so-called ``blood-brain barrier.''
The study adds to the growing literature on the chemical pyridostigmine,
which was given to U.S. soldiers in the Gulf War as protection against
chemical weapons. However the report by Israeli researchers is based on mice
studies and does not purport to be a definitive solution to the mystery of
Gulf War syndrome.
The study by Dr. Alon Friedman and colleagues at Hebrew University and Tel
Aviv University appears in December's edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
Scientists have long believed that most drugs and chemicals cannot penetrate
the blood-brain barrier to reach the central nervous system. This
research suggests that stress may make the barrier permeable, according to
Israel Hanin, a professor in the pharmacology department at
Loyola University's Strich College of Medicine who wrote a commentary on the
journal article.
``It might in fact be more permeable than we think, especially under
conditions of stress,'' Hanin said.
According to Hanin, the finding is less important for what it says about the
Gulf War than about stress and the brain, which in turn could have
implications for drug treatments of a variety of neurological diseases.
In theory at least, learning how and when to make the barrier permeable
could eventually lead to ways of getting drugs into the brain to treat
problems like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.
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