Research Update: New Ways to Treat Alzheimer’s by Opening the Blood-Brain Barrier

In May 2017, scientists at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada made history as the first in the world to use focused ultrasound to temporarily break through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

The BBB is composed of high-density cells around the smallest blood vessels in the brain, known as the capillaries. While preventing toxic substances in the bloodstream from reaching the brain, this barrier, however, also prevents drug therapies from entering the brain to treat diseases. As Dr. Sandra Black – internationally renowned Brill Chair of Neurology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and University of Toronto – says, “There are many therapeutic drug treatments that do not work or cannot be properly tested in Alzheimer’s disease because they cannot pass the BBB.”

In November 2015, Sunnybrook researchers successfully opened the BBB for the first time, testing the ability to deliver chemotherapy directly into a patient’s brain tumour. Using MRI-guided focused ultrasound, this recent phase 1 trial in May 2017 was the first time the BBB was opened in patients with Alzheimer’s, although no drug treatments were given. If this trial is successful, researchers will consider conducting another trial to test introducing small amounts of drug therapies through the BBB. They may even target the part of the brain that is most affected by dementia – the hippocampus, which is responsible for creating new memories.

The ability to open up the BBB opens up new possibilities of treating brain disorders. “By opening up the BBB using low frequency ultrasound, we’ve taken a small but important step that opens up a whole new vista of possibilities. The hope is there may be a way to eventually open up multiple little windows, in a gentle way, in order to get large molecules like drugs and even stem cells into the brain,” says Dr. Sandra Black.

More information about Sunnybrook’s research on opening the BBB in dementia patients can be found here: https://sunnybrook.ca/media/item.asp?c=&i=1562&page=33939&f=alzheimers-focused-ultrasound-blood-brain-barrier

Welcome Back from Professor Nathan Herrmann and Student Chair Selina Chow

Last year, a group of students from Havergal College established the Dementia Awareness Program in partnership with Professor Nathan Herrmann - Head of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The purpose of our program is to increase the community’s understanding and appreciation of dementia, reduce the stigma associated with mental illnesses, as well as provide the valuable opportunity for high school students to volunteer with, and enrich the lives of people with dementia. While visiting the residents in a dementia care home in Toronto, Canada weekly, we shared our experience and the knowledge we learned about dementia with the community on this blog. Our blog has been a key tool in raising awareness of dementia and de-stigmatizing this common illness. Since we began our blog last year, we received more than 2,000 visits from over 10 countries worldwide - including United States, Russia, Mexico, Germany, Hong Kong, Argentina, France, Australia, Poland, and more.

We are very excited to be gearing up for another year of the Dementia Awareness Program this year, by continuing our community partnership between Havergal College students and a local senior’s residence, while also continuing our blog here. In particular, this year’s blog series will feature current research developments in dementia, along with “Ask the Expert” posts. We want to open up our blog to include your questions about dementia through “Ask the Expert”, which will be answered by Professor Nathan Herrmann. Please feel free to take advantage of this opportunity to ask our world-renowned expert, whether it be about the pathogenesis of the illness or how to interact with a family member with dementia. Questions can be submitted through the comments section on this blog. We look forward to receiving your questions!

We hope this will be of interest to you and the community. Together, we can learn more about this important cause and work to de-stigmatize dementia.

You can also follow Dr. Herrmann’s “Memory Doctor” blog for dementia caregivers at: http://health.sunnybrook.ca/memory-doctor/

Professor Nathan Herrmann and Student Chair Selina Chow

Nathan Herrmann MD FRCPC

Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Lewar Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry

Head, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre