A novel approach to treating neuroinflammation

近年来，越来越清楚的是，大脑中的炎症可能是导致许多精神和神经疾病（如阿尔茨海默病和抑郁症）的关键因素。不幸的是，像布洛芬这样的标准抗炎药物并没有帮助，因为它们的配方阻止了它们进入大脑，而大脑被一种叫做血脑屏障的特殊保护层所包围。我们已经获得了一种广泛使用的抗炎药的新配方它是专门设计用来增加大脑渗透的。在这个项目中，我们将展示这种配方可以减少老鼠的脑部炎症，并且它可以穿透人类细胞的血脑屏障。如果成功，这一证据将证明在人类身上试用这种新配制的药物是合理的，首批研究预计将于2022年开始。第一批人体研究将针对接受选择性手术（如髋关节置换术）的患者，这种手术往往会在大脑和身体其他部位引起短期炎症。作为该项目的一部分，我们将开发一种数字工具，使我们能够检测出哪些人由于这些类型的手术而患认知问题的风险最高。这将用于为未来的药物研究选择患者，也有助于医生和患者了解和前瞻性地治疗与选择性手术相关的脑相关风险。

Over recent years it has become clear that inflammation in the brain may be a key factor contributing to many psychiatric and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and depression. Unfortunately, standard anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibruprofen do not help, because the way they are formulated stops them from being able to get into the brain, which is surrounded by a special protective layer called the blood-brain barrier. We have accessed a new formulation of a widely-used anti-inflammatory drug which has been specifically designed to have increased brain penetration. In this project we will show that this formulation can reduce brain inflammation in mice, and that it can penetrate the blood-brain barrier in human cells. If successful, this evidence will justify trying the newly formulated drug in humans, with first studies expected to start in 2022\. These first human studies will be for people undergoing elective surgeries such as hip replacements, which tends to cause a short-term inflammation in the brain as well as other parts of the body. As part of this project, we will develop a digital tool that allows us to detect who is at highest risk of developing cognitive problems as a result of these types of surgery. This will be used to select patients for future studies of the drug, and also to help doctors and patients understand and prospectively treat the brain-related risks associated with elective surgeries.