14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists in the United States looking into ways of stopping progressive spinal cord injuries following accidents may have stumbled upon a method of doing this that actually works. In their experiments, they used the dye known as Brilliant Blue G (BBG), which is similar to those used to color foods. The University of Rochester team determined that applying the dye indeed stopped subsequent trauma to the spinal cord, but that it had the rather peculiar effect of turning test mice undergoing the procedure blue.
Why this effect on the rodents' noses, ears, and legs happened is still uncertain, but the experts hope that, by tweaking the mechanisms through which the dye acts, it could be used on humans one day, the BBC News reports. In case of traumatic injuries to the spine, molecular reactions spiraling out of control can cause irreparable damage to the cord a few hours after the accident took place. Applying this dye could be one of the solutions used to stop this from happening in the future, but, before this is possible, it needs to be ridden of the weird side-effect.
“We have no effective treatment now for patients who have an acute spinal cord injury. Our hope is that this work will lead to a practical, safe agent that can be given to patients shortly after injury, for the purpose of decreasing the secondary damage that we have to otherwise expect,” Professor Steven Goldman, one of the researchers who conducted the new investigation, explains the necessity for this course of treatment. Details of the study appear in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The main culprit for ongoing spinal cord deterioration following injuries is ATP, an energy molecule that is the basic mechanism employed by the body to keep its cells alive. After the cord is damaged, these molecules flood the area and release a myriad of chemical molecules, which kill even nearby, undamaged motor cells. This can cause paralysis, and that is why the UR team highlighted the importance of applying the solution to the patient's back as soon as possible after the initial damage.
“There may be little we can do to stop the initial traumatic injury but we can certainly look to stop the insidious secondary damage that occurs in the spinal cord in the hours and days immediately afterwards. What we appear to have here is a promising lead in this quest for so-called neuroprotective treatments. The fact that it is a known, approved food colorant would, on the face of it, appear to make this a compelling starting point,” the Spinal Research Charity Head of Research, Dr. Mark Bacon, says.
“However, the levels ingested in food stuffs don't make us go blue, as is the case in the group's experimental studies on rats, suggesting the therapeutic dose needed to protect the spinal cord from ATP toxicity is far, far higher than that experienced in daily life. What is safe at one dose may not be safe at higher doses – many drugs have failed because they reach a toxicity threshold before they ever reach therapeutic levels,” he concludes.