December 14, 2022
Keio University School of Medicine
A joint research group led by Assistant Professor Hiroki Yamada and Professor Masahiro Toda of the Department of Neurosurgery, and Assistant Professor Yoshitaka Kase and Professor Hideyuki Okano of the Department of Physiology at the Keio University School of Medicine, has revealed that in the early stages of subarachnoid hemorrhage, neuroinflammation spreads throughout the cerebral cortex, causing neuronal cell death and leading to severe conditions.
Subarachnoid hemorrhage, caused by the rupture of a cerebral aneurysm, is a serious disease with a high mortality rate even today, and only about one-quarter of all patients can fully return to society. While surgical procedures to prevent re-rupture of the ruptured aneurysm are well established, there is no established treatment to protect nerve cells from damage.
This research group created model mice with varying severities of subarachnoid hemorrhage and discovered that widespread neuroinflammation and neuronal cell death occur throughout the cerebral cortex 24 hours after onset. Although it has been noted that early damage within 72 hours of the onset of subarachnoid hemorrhage is critical, it was not previously known that the damage is not limited to the site of bleeding but that neuroinflammation spreads throughout the entire brain, causing neuronal cell death.
The cerebral cortex is responsible for higher brain functions such as motor function and long-term memory, making its protection extremely important. The results of this study suggest that suppressing inflammation throughout the cerebral cortex in the hyperacute phase after the onset of subarachnoid hemorrhage is effective. It was also found that extensive damage to the cerebral cortex can be considered one of the pathological conditions that explains the severe symptoms that hinder a return to society after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
In the future, it is expected that suppressing neuroinflammation in the hyperacute phase will be clinically applied as a treatment strategy for subarachnoid hemorrhage, and the research group has begun to investigate how to suppress neuroinflammation for effective treatment. The results of this research were published in the international academic journal Inflammation and Regeneration on December 14, 2022 (JST).
For the full press release, please see below.