Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus), a member of the Asteraceae family, thrives in our climate. This plant has been utilized for centuries as a medicinal herb, often consumed as an extract or tea to support the digestive system. Recently, researchers at the Center for Pharmacology of University Hospital Cologne and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne, led by Dr. Philipp Gobrecht and Professor Dr. Dietmar Fischer, have discovered a completely new application for its active component, Cnicin.
Animal models as well as human cells have shown that Cnicin significantly accelerates axon (nerve fibers) growth. The study was published in the journal Phytomedicine.
Rapid help for nerves
Regeneration pathways of injured nerves in humans and animals with long axons are accordingly long. This often makes the healing process lengthy and even frequently irreversible because the axons cannot reach their destination on time.
An accelerated regeneration growth rate can, therefore, make a big difference here, ensuring that the fibers reach their original destination on time before irreparable functional deficits can occur. The researchers demonstrated axon regeneration in animal models and human cells taken from retinae donated by patients. Administering a daily dose of Cnicin to mice or rats helped improve paralysis and neuropathy much more quickly.
Compared to other compounds, Cnicin has one crucial advantage: it can be introduced into the bloodstream orally (by mouth). It does not have to be given by injection. “The correct dose is very important here, as Cnicin only works within a specific therapeutic window. Doses that are too low or too high are ineffective. This is why further clinical studies on humans are crucial,” said Fischer. The University of Cologne researchers are currently planning relevant studies. The Center for Pharmacology is researching and developing drugs to repair the damaged nervous system.
Reference: “Cnicin promotes functional nerve regeneration” by Philipp Gobrecht, Jeannette Gebel, Marco Leibinger, Charlotte Zeitler, Zhendong Chen, Dirk Gründemann and Dietmar Fischer, 14 April 2024, Phytomedicine.
DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2024.155641
The current study received funding of around 1,200,000 euros from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the project PARREGERON.
News
AI Transforms Drug Discovery With Faster, Safer Cancer Treatments
The new platform helped UC San Diego scientists synthesize 32 potential multi-target cancer drugs. Scientists at UC San Diego have developed a machine learning algorithm to simulate the time-consuming chemistry involved in the earliest phases of [...]
Nanotech opens door to future of insulin medication
An international team, led by researchers from Australia, have developed a system using nanotechnology that could allow people with diabetes to take oral insulin in the future. The researchers say the new insulin could [...]
COVID-19’s Impact on Child Development More Subtle Than Expected
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center express that the study results offer a sense of reassurance, instilling “guarded optimism” regarding the developmental outcomes of young children who have been exposed to restrictions stemming from [...]
New Hope for Neurological Disorders: Scientists Have Discovered How an Essential Nutrient Enters the Brain
Researchers have discovered the process by which dietary choline crosses the blood-brain barrier. This breakthrough has potential applications in enhancing drug delivery to the brain for treating neurological disorders. A researcher from the University of [...]
Developing a tech platform for fast, robust series production of nanoparticles
Nucleic acid-based medications such as mRNA vaccines offer tremendous potential for medicine and are opening up new therapeutic approaches. These active ingredients must be enclosed inside nanoparticles to ensure that they get to where [...]
Unlocking Medical Mysteries: Tyche AI’s Revolutionary Insight Into Ambiguity
By providing plausible label maps for one medical image, the Tyche machine-learning model could help clinicians and researchers capture crucial information. In biomedicine, segmentation involves annotating pixels from an important structure in a medical [...]
Scientists Decode the Molecular Impact of Exercise
MoTrPAC examined the molecular effects of exercise on 2,600 volunteers, incorporating factors like age, race, and gender diversity. Building upon research in rats, MoTrPAC discovered over 35,000 biological molecules responding to endurance exercise and [...]
Prostate Cancer Breakthrough: Urine Test Avoids Unnecessary Biopsies
A study in JAMA Oncology reveals that MyProstateScore 2.0, a new urine test analyzing 18 genes, surpasses PSA in detecting significant prostate cancers and could reduce unnecessary biopsies by up to 42%. A new urine test [...]
Wake Up and Die: New Brain Cell Discovery Could Unlock Alzheimer’s Secrets
This uncommon process is more frequently observed in neurodegenerative diseases and could offer insights into disease mechanisms. According to a new study published in PLOS Biology by Kim Hai-Man Chow and colleagues from the Chinese University [...]
Challenging Old Theories: Innovative Microscopy Exposes New Alzheimer’s Treatment Pathways
Researchers at UC San Diego have utilized advanced imaging techniques to explore the metabolic processes behind Alzheimer’s disease, leading to potential new strategies for treatment. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, significantly impairs [...]
Cambridge Scientists Discover Simple “Twist” That Supercharges Clean Fuel Generation
Scientists have discovered a method to super-charge the ‘engine’ of sustainable fuel generation – by giving the materials a little twist. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, are developing low-cost light-harvesting semiconductors that power devices [...]
Completely New Use Discovered – This Traditional Herb Has Remarkable Nerve Regenerative Properties
Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus), a member of the Asteraceae family, thrives in our climate. This plant has been utilized for centuries as a medicinal herb, often consumed as an extract or tea to support [...]
Scientists study lipids cell by cell, making new cancer research possible
Imagine being able to look inside a single cancer cell and see how it communicates with its neighbors. Scientists are celebrating a new technique that lets them study the fatty contents of cancer cells, [...]
Antibiotic Breakthrough: Revolutionary Chinese Study Paves Way for Superbug Defeating Drugs
New research reveals that fluorous lipopetides act as highly effective antibiotics. Bacterial infections resistant to multiple drugs, which no existing antibiotics can treat, represent a significant worldwide challenge. A research group from China has [...]
Signs of Multiple Sclerosis Show Up in Blood Years Before Symptoms Appear
UCSF scientists clear a potential path toward earlier treatment for a disease that affects nearly 1,000,000 people in the United States. By Levi Gadye In a discovery that could hasten treatment for patients with multiple [...]
Advanced RNA Sequencing Reveals the Drivers of New COVID Variants
A study reveals that a new sequencing technique, tARC-seq, can accurately track mutations in SARS-CoV-2, providing insights into the rapid evolution and variant development of the virus. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID has the unsettling [...]