Rasmussens Encephalitis Essay Example For Students

Rasmussens Encephalitis Essay Rasmussens EncephalitisKeyur P. BiologyScienceRasmussens Encephalitis The human immune system is an amazing system that is constantly on the alert protecting us from sicknesses. Thousands of white blood cells travel in our circulatory system destroying all foreign substances that could cause harm to our body or to any of the millions of processes going on inside. Now imagine a condition where this awesome system turns against the most complex organ in the human body, the brain. Deadly as it is, this condition is known as Rasmussens encephalitis. In order to test this theory the researchers injected the GluRs into the blood stream of a normal healthy rabbit hoping to produce good results. At this point the experiment took a dramatic turn, after receiving a few doses of the protein two of the three rabbits began to twitch, as though they were suffering the pain of an epileptic seizure. Now the help of McNamara and Andrews was enlisted. When McNamara and Andrews examined the brain tissue of the rabbits, they saw what seemed to be a familiar inflammatory pattern, clumps of immune cells all around blood vessels. This description exactly matched the description of persons suffering from Rasmussens encephalitis, moreover something as this would never be found in a healthy brain. A healthy brain has its blood capillaries enclosed in the BBB membrane, so such a case as the one mentioned above would not be possible. As protective as the BBB is, it can be breached by something like a head injury. What was happening was that the antibodies which were out to get the GluR proteins were somehow finding a way into the brain and directing an attack towards all GluR receptor proteins in the brain itself. After some more examinations Rogers and McNamara decided that these attacks were the cause of the seizures that are often experienced by sufferers of Ramussens encephalitis. Then if the case is of antibodies in the bloodstream, than sufferers of Ramussens encephalitis should have them in their bloodstream and healthy normal peoples shouldnt. When this was actually tested the results were positive that Rasmussen sufferers did have these antibodies in their bloodstreams and healthy people did not. These were not only the right kind of antibodies but, the very antibodies that caused the seizures in people and rabbits. Thus when these antibodies were removed by plasma exchange(PEX) it caused a temporary relief from the seizures but soon the body starts making more antibodies of the type and the seizures start once again. After all the examinations two questions remained, why does the body mount an immune response against one of its own brain proteins, and how do these antibodies get thr ough the BBB? What is thought right now is that people get antibodies when they are infected by a microorganism like a bacterium or a virus that is similar in structure to the GluR. When this happens the body mounts an immune response against, and it just so happens that at this stage you suffer a blow to the head. This will open your BBB to the antibodies and they will attack the friendly GluRs in the brain, causing seizures and further opening your BBB to more antibodies. Now a malicious rhythm begins: antibodies break through the BBB, inflammation is caused due to the break in, seizures are now caused and BBB opens up further, further opening in the BBB cause more seizures. The inflammation is caused by the autoimmune process against the GluR. All the seizures occur where the initial break in the BBB happened due to a blow to the head, explaining why they seizures are confined to just one hemisphere. The only problem with this theory is that the rabbits developed seizures withou t ever being whacked on the head, but that also could be because a rabbits brain is not as well insulated as a humans. Normally what happens to an individual is that after he or she is involved in this cycle the only thing that can make for relief is the recurrent plasma exchange. This will only cease the seizures temporarily, but they will start again when the body has made more new antibodies. After this has been done many times the hemisphere in which sufferers of Ramussens encephalitis is present will deteriorate to the point where a hemispherectomy has to be performed.This will render the person to mental disintegration where he or she has no more mental capacity and generally to the point of no return, death. Rasmussens encephalitis is a very deadly disease, but it is also a very rare disease, occurring in only 48 people between 1957 and 1987. As of now there are no FDA approved drugs for the sufferers of Ramussens encephalitis. Now the researchers are working on a drug that will block the activity of this particular antibody, but this could lead to further problems. If this drug is being administered and a bacteria or virus of a similar structure as the GluR is present the body would disregard it and this would cause more health problems. After all this bad news all one can say is, Good luck to the ones suffering from this living hell. Are Americans Allergic to Traveling Abroad? EssayAtkins,Rasmussens encephalitis: nueroimaging findings in four patients. AJR-Am-J- Roentgenol. June 1992. Blume, Rasmussens chronic encephalitis in adults. Arch-Nuerol. March 1993. Hanovar, Rasmussens encephalitis in surgery for epilepsy. Dev-Med-Child-Nuerol. January 1992. Leary, Clues Found To Rare Form of Epilepsy. New York Times. December 5 1994,pp. A4. Whisenand, Autoantibodies to glutamate receptor GluR3 in Rasmussens encephalitis, Science. July 29 1994. Miscellaneous