Why viruses and bacteria can’t enter our brains?
Blood-Brain Barrier(BBB), it is a protective layer covered by our brain. It is a barrier that is found between blood vessels and the brain. It doesn’t allow bacteria and viruses to invade inside the brain. BBB is a selectively permeable barrier, controls what should go inside the brain and what shouldn’t. Molecules such as glucose, oxygen, and water can pass through BBB. Blood vessels in the brain have specialized endothelial cells that are tightly packed and form a tight junction. Small molecules enter into this tight junction. BBB found to be a challenge for drug delivery.
Trojan Horse approach is a technique that is used for drug passage, the drugs are fused to a molecule that can pass the barrier. It involves coupling therapeutics with antibodies, that bind to the surface receptor on the blood barrier. After this, receptor activation occurs and enter into the cells and pass the layer and enter into the brain.
Engineered viruses also used for penetrating the brain that delivers drug therapeutics into the brain cells.
Ebola is back again but where? Yes, it is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an 11-year-old girl died due to ebola virus. Who is Ebola?, Ebola virus disease is a rare group of viruses that was first found in 1976 near the ebola river(Democratic Republic Congo) in the African continent. Researchers believe that virus may have come from non-human primates.
Transmission: virus spreads through contact with the blood or body fluids, infected bats.
Treatment: currently no approved drug for Ebola treatment, but during the 2018 outbreak. Two antiviral drugs called Regeneron and mab114 was used in patients.
Any Vaccine available: Ebola vaccine called rVSV-ZEBOV was approved by FDA on December 19, 2019. This Vaccine is found to be safe against Zaire a species of ebola. Another vaccine is been under development that needs two vaccine components ( ZEBOV and MVA BN-Filo) that require two doses that are initial and booster dose that is 56 days later.
70 vaccine trials are going on for COVID-19, in that 3 being tested in humans. Based on the report of Oxford University, the vaccine could be ready by September of this year. If the officials push for the emergency crisis. Once the trials work in humans, the researchers expect that vaccine development would take between 12 to 18 months.
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