A new study shows that gelatin has a significant effect on the blood brain barrier (BBB) by promoting rapid restoration of integrity after injury.

Researchers at Lund University (Sweden) conducted a study involving sedated female rats to investigate how the brain is repaired after being subjected to an acute injury. Gelatin-coated needles were used to induce injury in the cortex cerebri in one group, and needles without gelatin in the other. Cellular and molecular markers were studied using quantitative immunohistochemical microscopy at acute (less than two hours, one day, and three days), intermediate (one to two weeks), and long-term time points (six weeks) following a transient insertion of the stainless steel needles.

The results showed that injuries caused by the gelatin coated needles showed a significantly faster resolution of post-stab bleeding and leakage than non-coated controls, as well as differential effects on different groups of microglia cells. While similar levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were found for coated and noncoated needle stabs during the first week, markedly increased levels of MMPs were seen for the gelatin-coated needles after two weeks. Neuronal populations and activated astrocytes were largely unaffected. The study was published on October 14, 2017, in Acta Biomaterialia.

“Knowledge about the beneficial effects of gelatin could be significant for brain surgery, but also in the development of brain implants”, said lead author Lucas Kumosa, PHD, of the Lund University Neuronano Research Centre (NRC). “The use of gelatin-coated needles reduced or eliminated the leakage of molecules (which normally don’t get through) through the blood brain barrier within twenty-four hours. Without gelatin, the leakage continued for up to three days.”

“Gelatin is a protein and its decomposition releases amino-acids that we believe could promote the reconstruction of blood vessels and tissue,” said senior author professor of neurophysiology Jens Schouenborg, PhD. “Although the research field of brain electrodes is promising, it has been a challenge to find solutions that don’t damage the brain tissue. Knowledge of how injuries heal faster with gelatin could therefore be significant for the development of surgical treatment as well.”

MMPs are a group of enzymes that in concert are responsible for the degradation of most extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins during organogenesis, growth, and normal tissue turnover. While expression and activity of MMPs in adult tissues is normally quite low, it increases significantly during some pathological conditions that lead to unwanted tissue destruction, such as inflammatory diseases, tumor growth, and metastasis.

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