Thread by @TheLymphieLife

Antoine Louveau of @ClevelandClinic closing out the conference with a presentation on lymphatics of the brain: "We have to start caring about this lymphatic system."
#nln2019

Neurological disorders are extremely prevalent, extremely expensive, and there are limited therapies and treatments for what are often lifelong battles with large side effects.
#nln2019

The brain is the most metabolically active organ of the body - how does it remove its waste?

A few years ago, evidence was found of the gymphatic system. The glymphatic system is not really a structure but rather a concept.
#nln2019

Brain is impacted by blood, immune cells, gut + microbiome, and meninges. Meninges is 3-layer structure surrounding brain and spinal cord, previously believed to be a physical protective barrier - recent research shows its much more complex than that.
#nln2019

The concept of there being no lymphatic drainage in the brain began back in 1948, with Sir Peter Medawar. This belief persisted (despite evidence, like molecules injected into brain draining into neck lymph nodes!) until recently.
#nln2019

The glowing green bits are lymphatics in the meninges of a mouse 🐭
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Louveau explains his team's research on neuroinflammation.
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By performing meningial lymphatic drainage to help clear accumulated cellular waste, there are potentials to treat aging of the brain.
#nln2019

Current approaches in rodent studies aren't translatable to humans. Research needs to identify the molecular mechanisms that pertain to the specific function of the meningial lymphatic vessels in order to translate basic research into therapeutic.
#nln2019

Meningial lymphatic vessels are implicated in the development/modulation of neurological disorders. MLV have a unique - environment induce - transcriptomic signature whose analysis might provide therapeutic target to safely manipulate the MLV.
#nln2019