News Finding: It also shows that these changes may be reversible, which paves the way for potential treatments."
Paper Finding: However, the lack of a functional leak in DM rats in vivo at this early time point suggests that early white matter pathology does not result from substances in the blood leaking through an impaired BBB.
News Context: Indeed, the brain cell damage in the rats caused by the blood vessel changes was prevented by treatment with endothelial cell-stabilizing drugs, providing evidence for a potential path for the development of a therapeutic approach for dementia. Anna Williams, Ph.D., group leader at the University of Edinburgh's MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, said: "This important research helps us understand why SVD happens, providing a direct link between small blood vessels and changes in the brain that are linked to dementia. It also shows that these changes may be reversible, which paves the way for potential treatments."
Paper Context: The order of these changes in the DM rat suggests that an early change in the ECs contributes to the later white matter changes and occurs well before the rats become hypertensive. However, the lack of a functional leak in DM rats in vivo at this early time point suggests that early white matter pathology does not result from substances in the blood leaking through an impaired BBB. We observed the same changes as at 5 weeks in vivo: a reduction in claudin-5 protein expression (Fig.