Cerebral palsy is a complex neurological disorder affecting mobility and posture that is frequently caused by brain damage or abnormal brain development before, during, or immediately after birth. While it is well established that breast milk provides several health benefits to newborns due to its high concentration of nutrients, antibodies, and other bioactive chemicals, particular components that specifically reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy would be a remarkable discovery.
In trials with neonatal mice, researchers discovered a fatty chemical in breast milk that initiates a process in which stem cells in the brain make cells that create new white matter, repairing brain injury. While it is recognized that white matter loss would result in neurological abnormalities, there is currently no treatment to help these newborns avoid the outcome.
Duke Health researchers discovered a fatty chemical in breast milk that initiates a process in which stem cells in the brain make cells that construct new white matter, repairing the lesion in neonatal mice.
Developing therapies for children, particularly such medically fragile children, is extremely difficult due to justifiably strict safety concerns. The fact that this molecule is already found in something safe for premature babies – breast milk – is extremely encouraging.
Eric Benner
The study appears in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Eric Benner, M.D., Ph.D., is the study’s corresponding author and is a distinguished assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine. Benner said further study in a clinical trial is needed, but the finding is promising.
“Developing therapies for children, particularly such medically fragile children, is extremely difficult due to justifiably strict safety concerns,” Benner added. “The fact that this molecule is already found in something safe for premature babies – breast milk – is extremely encouraging.”
“It’s been known for a long time that fats in breast milk benefit a child’s brain development, but there are many different types of fats in breast milk,” Benner explained. “This study discovered a lipid molecule in breast milk that promotes the development of white matter.” Now we may start working on a medication that isolates and delivers this lipid in a way that is safe for these infants’ specific problems.”
Benner is a neonatologist at Duke University and one of the co-founders of Tellus Therapeutics, a Duke spinout company developed with the help of the Duke University Office for Translation & Commercialization to bring this therapy from the bench into the neonatal intensive care unit.
In a future clinical trial, the fatty molecule discovered in the study will be supplied intravenously to patients. This is critical since many of the infants in this vulnerable group also have gastrointestinal difficulties and cannot be given milk or medication by mouth properly.
The lipid molecule penetrates the brain and connects with stem cells, encouraging the stem cells to differentiate into or create oligodendrocytes. Oligodendrocytes function as a center for the generation of white matter in the central nervous system. In pre-term infants, this freshly formed white matter prevents neurological damage that would otherwise impair the child’s ability to move, which is one of the hallmarks of cerebral palsy.
“Because the timing of brain injury is extremely difficult to predict, a treatment that could be safely given to all preterm babies at risk would be revolutionary,” said Agnes Chao, M.D., the paper’s first author and a former fellow in the Division of Neonatology.
“As a neonatologist, I’m thrilled that I might be able to offer a treatment to families with babies suffering from preterm brain injury who would otherwise have no other options,” Chao said.
