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To: Gerald Underwood who wrote (576)	11/2/1998 10:18:00 PM
From: psyched	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 705

to All: FWIW Medscape News Brain Cells Can Regenerate NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters Health) -- The human brain was long thought to hold a finite number of nerve cells that once lost, could never be regained. Now, contrary to that long-held belief, findings from a study suggest that nerve cells in the adult human brain can regenerate, according to a report in the November issue of Nature Medicine. If researchers can find a way to stimulate this process, they may be able to treat illness caused by the death of brain cells, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The finding is "extremely exciting," according to Dr. Zaven Khachaturian, director of the US Alzheimer's Association's Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute. "The study begins to shatter some long-held myths about the brain, that it is not capable of repairing itself," Khachaturian said in an interview with Reuters Health. "I think that is very important because it indicates that it will be possible one day to restore lost functions of the nervous system, whether lost due to Alzheimer's disease or some other degenerative process. The finding has great implications far beyond Alzheimer's disease." In the study, Dr. Fred H. Gage, of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, and colleagues at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteberg, Sweden, studied samples of postmortem brain tissue from five cancer patients. The patients had been treated with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), a chemical that binds to the DNA of dividing cells, anywhere from 16 to 781 days before death. The research team tested the brain samples for the substance, specifically the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus, a region important in learning and memory. And they report finding BrdU in these brain cells, suggesting that the cells were capable of dividing into new cells. "Our study demonstrates that cell genesis occurs in human brains and that the human brain retains the potential for self-renewal throughout life," the authors wrote. The researchers note that the biological significance of cell growth in the brain is not clear. However they suggest that the presence of such cells opens avenues of research that could lead to new therapeutic approaches. The finding is still "a few steps removed from practical application," Khachaturian noted. But it might be possible to find "a way to reactivate the genes that were active during development and start the whole process of cell division over again," he said. Or it may be possible to grow such nerve cells in the laboratory and transplant the cells or deliver them into the brains of those who may benefit, he said. SOURCE: Nature Medicine 1998;11:1313-1317. Copyright © 1998 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. RECOMMENDED LINKS NEWS More Headlines RELATED ARTICLES Alzheimer's Disease: An Update RELATED SPECIALTIES Internal Medicine For: Advanced Searching: Full-Text \| MEDLINE \| TOXLINE \| AIDSLINE \| Bookstore \| Dictionary \| Drugs Produced by Medscape, Inc. All material on this server Copyright © 1994-1998 by the publishers involved. Sorry, I'm not computer literate enough to include url link or I would have.So cut &paste will have to suffice.