Publications by authors named "J R Bringas"
Article Synopsis
- Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) leads to significant personal, social, and economic impacts globally, with many patients experiencing cycles of relapse despite treatment.
- Researchers conducted a study on rhesus monkeys to explore whether infusing a growth factor called GDNF into the brain could prevent relapse after periods of abstinence.
- The results showed that GDNF not only reduced alcohol use over a year but also improved dopamine signaling in the brain, indicating that gene therapy might be a viable approach for preventing relapse in AUD.
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers tested a method of administering gene therapy (AAV9-hASM) through cerebellomedullary injection in nonhuman primates and a mouse model, finding it to be safe and effective without causing inflammation or toxicity.
- * This approach showed promise in preventing key symptoms of the disease in mice, including motor and memory issues, and led to reduced harmful compounds in the brain and liver, supporting further clinical testing for treating NPD-A and similar disorders.
Objective: To develop and assess a convective delivery technique that enhances the effectiveness of drug delivery to nonspherical brain nuclei, the authors developed an occipital "infuse-as-you-go" approach to the putamen and compared it to the currently used transfrontal approach.
Methods: Eleven nonhuman primates received a bilateral putamen injection of adeno-associated virus with 2 mM gadolinium-DTPA by real-time MR-guided convective perfusion via either a transfrontal (n = 5) or occipital infuse-as-you-go (n = 6) approach.
Results: MRI provided contemporaneous assessment and monitoring of putaminal infusions for transfrontal (2 to 3 infusion deposits) and occipital infuse-as-you-go (stepwise infusions) putaminal approaches.
Objective: Successful convection-enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents to subcortical brain structures requires accurate cannula placement. Stereotactic guiding devices have been developed to accurately target brain nuclei. However, technologies remain limited by a lack of MRI compatibility, or by devices' size, making them suboptimal for direct gene delivery to brain parenchyma.
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