Scientists have identified the main cause of hydrocephalus

In the abnormally enlarged head and brain in newborns, the inappropriate activity of progenitor cells of neurons is to blame, which, when divided, clogs the channels for the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain.

Sometimes infants are born with complications such as cerebral bleeding and hydrocephalus. The first usually precedes the second: after stopping the bleeding, hydrocephalus begins to develop. This strange disorder is due to the malfunctioning of the fluid circulation system in the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid is formed in the system of the ventricles of the brain, as it is formed it is absorbed by the blood and lymph vessels. If the transport of fluid to the suction site is difficult, it begins to put pressure on the developing brain, which leads not only to an abnormal increase in the size of the head, but also to multiple neurophysiological disorders. According to statistics, one in 1,500 infants is born with hydrocephalus, that is, this disease is not so rare you will not name. There is no effective treatment for her, the only way to make life easier for the patient is to surgically bypass excess cerebrospinal fluid from the brain into the spinal canal. Over time, the shunt goes out of order, and the operation has to be repeated.

For a long time it was thought that cerebral bleeding causes hydrocephalus due to clots of coagulated blood. Blood, getting into the system of circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, folds and closes the channels of its outflow from the cerebral ventricles. The theory of mechanical obstruction existed for 100 years, while a group of researchers from the Scripps Institute (USA) did not come to mind to look for other mechanisms of interrelation between cerebral bleeding and hydrocephalus.

Neuroscientists have decided to find out whether there are any components of the blood that can cause blockage of the fluid circulation channels in the brain. In experiments on mice, the injection of blood into the ventricles of the brain successfully recreated hydrocephalus. Then the researchers tried to introduce into the brain separately red blood cells, separately - blood plasma. Red blood cells did not give the desired effect, but the plasma worked. Subsequently, it was found that the cause of the development of hydrocephalus was a fat molecule - lysophosphatidic acid, present in the blood plasma. The ingestion of this acid into the ventricles of the brain led to the birth of hydrocephalus mice.

Lysophosphatidic acid is an active regulator of the cell cycle: it stimulates cell division and takes part in the transformations of the cytoskeleton. The progenitor cells of neurons are abundantly provided with receptors to this acid; its excess or hypersensitivity to her neuronal precursors leads to the fact that nerve cells appear not at the time and in the wrong place, as required by normal brain development. In the case of hydrocephalus, the intensive formation of new cells can narrow the channel for cerebrospinal fluid. In the final experiment, the researchers injected into the brain a substance that blocked the binding of lysophosphatidic acid to the receptors on the surface of nerve cells, and the acid introduced after such treatment did not lead to disturbances in the development of the brain. The results of the research scientists published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Excess of lysophosphatidylic acid can cause not only hydrocephalus, because violations in the dynamics of brain development alters the architecture of nerve chains. Accordingly, the resulting neurophysiological defects can be very diverse. So, a tool that allows to block lysophosphatidylase receptors will be highly sought after by doctors. But first, researchers need to confirm the applicability of the results to human physiology, which they are going to do.

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