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Company Press Release
Foundation Awards Cleveland Clinic Scientist $40,000 to Develop Model of
Blood-Brain Barrier
CLEVELAND, Sept. 7, 1999 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alternatives for Research
and Development Foundation has awarded a $40,000, one-year grant to
Cleveland Clinic researcher Damir Janigro, Ph.D to validate a model of
the blood-brain barrier. Ideally, such a model will facilitate
development of new pharmaceutical agents and may provide insight into
the origins of certain chronic neurological diseases.
Dr. Janigro and colleagues have created what is known as the ``dynamic
in vitro'' model of the blood-brain barrier. The dynamic in vitro
blood-brain barrier model has been adopted by researchers at other
institutions for a variety of clinical investigations currently
underway.
``A great deal of money is spent each year to develop drugs to treat
diseases of the brain,'' said Dr. Janigro, director of cerebrovascular
research at the Cleveland Clinic. ``Quite often, these drugs work well
in vitro, but they may not work in animals or humans because they cannot
cross the blood- brain barrier. Other drugs, such as penicillin, are
quite toxic to the brain but are fortunately kept out by the barrier.
This research will help us to better understand this process.''
Dr. Janigro considers the blood-brain barrier to be an important factor
in the development of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's
disease, multiple sclerosis and PARKINSON'S disease. He suggests the
failure of the barrier to prevent the entry of nutrients into the brain
or allow the exit of potentially toxic substances could influence the
onset of these conditions. He is also interested in studying blood-brain
barrier failure during cardiopulmonary bypass and the effects of
radiation and cerebral infarction on the barrier.
The Cleveland Clinic's website address is:
http://www.clevelandclinic.org
SOURCE: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Copyright © 1999 PRNewswire.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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