BCI-838 stimulates hippocampal neurogenesis in blast-exposed rats. Shown are sections of the hippocampal dentate gyrus stained for bromodeoxyuridine (red), which labels dividing progenitor cells, and the mature neuronal marker NeuN (green) from vehicle-treated controls (A), vehicle-treated, blast-exposed rats (B), and blast-exposed rats treated with a low dose (C) or a high dose (D) of BCI-838. Bromodeoxyuridine-labeled cells are indicated with arrows. Scale bar: 50 microns. GREG ELDERPeople who experience blast-related trauma to the brain, a condition that has become more and more common among combat veterans, can later experience depression and heightened anxiety, even in the absence of a psychological stressor. Patients are usually treated with medications (particularly antidepressants) and behavioral therapy, but these are often only partially effective.
In search of a more-effective drug, researchers have found that a compound that blocks certain glutamate receptors in the brain reverses many of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms that appear after rats endure a blast injury, they report in eNeuro this week (January 29). The drug, called BCI-838, is already in human clinical trials for the treatment of depression.
“What makes this paper a really nice addition to the literature is that it comes from a good group that over the years has honed and refined a very legitimate, biologically relevant, and battlefield-relevant animal model,” says David Cook, who studies neurodegenerative disease at the VA Puget Sound and the University of Washington and who was not involved in the study. “This compound, which has ...
