Blue Food Dye Treats Spinal Cord Injury?

Ivanhoe Broadcast News

(Ivanhoe Newswire) ? Remember the ads when blue M&Ms were introduced ? "A Vote for Blue is a Vote for You?" Even if it's unintentional, we may yet find a kernel of truth in advertising.

A common food additive that gives M&Ms and Gatorade their blue tint may have a role to play in preventing the additional ? and serious ? secondary damage that immediately follows a traumatic injury to the spinal cord. Researchers report that the compound Brilliant Blue G (BBG) stops the cascade of molecular events that causes secondary damage to the spinal cord in the hours following a spinal cord injury, which is known to expand the injured area and permanently worsen paralysis.

This research builds on landmark findings first reported five years ago by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center. In the August 2004 Nature Medicine, scientists described how ATP, the vital energy source that keeps our body's cells alive, quickly pours into the area surrounding a spinal cord injury shortly after it occurs, and paradoxically kills off what are otherwise healthy and uninjured cells.

This surprising discovery marked a milestone in determining how secondary injury occurs in spinal cord patients. It also suggested the potential for stopping secondary spinal injury by using oxidized ATP, a compound known to block ATP's effects. Rats with damaged spinal cords who received an injection of oxidized ATP recovered much of their limb function, to the point of being able to walk again, ambulating effectively if not gracefully.

Now, researchers have cleared yet another hurdle in moving this research from bench to bedside by successfully identifying a compound that could be administered systemically to achieve the same benefit. Previously, the medical team needed to inject a compound directly into the injured spinal cord area to achieve results.

"While we achieved great results when oxidized ATP was injected directly into the spinal cord, this method would not be practical for use with spinal cord-injured patients," lead researcher Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center was quoted as saying.