The group’s most recent paper published in IBRO Neuroscience Reports looked at differences after stroke between male and female mice and found that females have higher amounts of glycogen in the brain. Glycogen is a sugar-like substance that circulates in our blood and nourishes our cells. When the glycogen supply is disrupted by a stroke, the brain is severely affected.
While men and women are almost equally affected by stroke, women tend to have poorer health outcomes. Animal models in stroke research traditionally use male subjects, but Sylvain and team have identified a potential problem in incorporating data from these lab experiments into clinical trials.
“We found that, for the most part, the male data can be generalized to females, but some of the metabolic markers we measured were actually different,” said Sylvain. “It is very important to do the research in both sexes.”
It would be impossible for the team to detect the biomarkers without the Mid-IR beamline.
“The only way to detect them so precisely in the whole brain is with infrared imaging, so the CLS has been absolutely vital to our research.”
Newton, JM, MJ Pushie, NJ Sylvain, H. Hou, S. Weese Maley, and ME Kelly. “Sex differences in the photothrombotic stroke mouse model investigated with X-ray fluorescence microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging”. IBRO Neuroscience Reports 13 (2022): 127-135. doi.org/10.1016/j.ibneur.2022.07.006
Photos: Synchrotron | Mid-IR light line | Nicole Sylvain
Article republished on October 3, 2022 at 14:12:13. See the original article.