(NHI Nanoblog) Carbon nanotubes, the tiny, super-strong building blocks that have drawn both excitement over their potential and concern over their risks, may help stroke victims recover faster.
In a study published online recently in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers from South Korea and Harvard Medical School found that rats pre-treated with the nanotubes showed less tissue damage and responded better after an induced stroke.
Their finding supports the broader idea that nanotubes are useful for “scaffolding” that can allow tissue to reconstruct itself, and also that there may be proactive steps that might make a stroke less damaging to begin with.
Nanotechnology involves manipulating super-small particles to make products with super properties. It’s already in lots of items, from bike frames to sunscreens, and many in the medical field believe its potential is almost limitless for treating disease from the inside.
But the very property that makes these products useful — their tiny size — might also make them dangerous, both in the short and long term. That’s especially true of carbon nanotubes, which are small enough to be inhaled. Early research shows that the minuscule cylinders may act like asbestos when they get into the lungs, causing inflammation and, potentially, disease.
Even as toxicologists recommend caution in working with carbon nanotubes, however, the effort to explore their usefulness continues. The most recent study builds on earlier work (here’s one example) that found the use of stem cells, with a scaffolding material, can help tissue and bone grow.
This is early, pre-clinical work. And an opinion piece published alongside the paper does point out that safety needs to be considered, and addressed, for this kind of treatment to advance in a significant way.
But given the controversy over carbon nanotubes, it’s important to note that the promise of this material appears to be as real as the potential dangers.