Reviewing Waste Clearance in the Brain via the Glymphatic System

Clearance of metabolic waste from the brain via fluid drainage pathways is becoming an important topic in the context of age-related neurodegeneration, as is noted by the authors of this open access review paper. There is good evidence to suggest that drainage of cerebrospinal fluid is a significant path for the removal of wastes, such as the protein aggregates associated with dementia, and that the relevant fluid channels atrophy and fail with age. That decline may well be an important contribution to the development of neurodegenerative disease in later life, and the first efforts to do something about it are now underway. Restoring drainage is the goal of Leucadia Therapeutics, for example, a company that will probably be joined by similar initiatives in the years ahead. Waste removal from the central nervous system is essential for maintaining brain homeostasis across the lifespan. Two interconnected, dynamic networks were recently uncovered, which may provide new information concerning the conundrum of how the brain manages waste removal in the absence of authentic lymphatic vessels (LVs). The glymphatic system serves as the brain's "front end" waste drainage pathway that includes a perivascular network for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) transport, which is connected to a downstream authentic lymphatic network associated with the meninges, cranial nerves, and large vessels exiting the skull. The anatomical and functional components of the two systems are complex, and...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs