Blood transfusions limit brain damage, lead to ‘profoundly improved’ stroke outcomes
Blood substitution therapy can help limit the effects of a stroke, according to a new analysis in Nature Communications. The study’s authors saw significant improvements in mice after performing transfusions—could such a technique have a similar impact on humans?
The researchers performed blood substitution therapy approximately seven hours following the stroke, replacing 20% of the mouse’s old blood with blood from a healthy donor. The therapy removed inflammatory cells from the body and decreased its overall number of neutrophil—which helps decrease the levels of an enzyme called MMP-9.
“What we were able to demonstrate is that if you remove part of the blood from a subject undergoing stroke, and replace that blood from a subject that’s never had a stroke, the outcomes of that stroke are profoundly improved,” lead author Xuefang “Sophie” Ren, MD, a research assistant professor at West Virginia University, said in a statement.
“What we learn is that stroke is simply not a cerebral vascular event,” co-author James Simpkins, PhD, a professor at West Virginia University, said in the same statement. “It’s a whole-body event. Both the brain and the body get signals that something’s going on in the brain and as the immune system responds to try to help, it actually worsens the outcome. Therefore, by removing the blood and replacing it with the blood of those that have not experienced stroke, we get good outcomes.”
In the statement, Ren notes that blood replacement therapy “could reduce the mortality of stroke patients.” Simpkins, meanwhile, detailed what “an ideal circumstance” could be in the future when patients suffer a stroke.
“They’d go through the proper protocol,” he said. “We would remove their stroke blood and magically restore it with the right kind of blood that would tamp down this immune response they’re experiencing. If it works out, that’s good for all of us.”
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.