IHRF Funds Research to Study Role of Vitamin A in Chronic Intracranial Hypertension
March 16, 2007—The Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation (IHRF) is pleased to announce that a research grant has been awarded to Deborah Grzybowski, Ph.D, and Steven Katz, M.D. from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The one-year grant will enable the two researchers to study the association between vitamin A and chronic intracranial hypertension.
For a long time, researchers have believed that the body’s metabolism of vitamin A and its byproducts are associated with the development of intracranial hypertension. Understanding the role of vitamin A and its pathways is important in learning why intracranial hypertension occurs.
Dr. Gryzbowski and Dr. Katz are interested in a site that’s believed to be very important for vitamin A activity, which is also the site where cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) exits the brain: the arachnoid membrane (specifically, the arachnoid granulations). One theory maintains that chronic IH may be due to a problem involving CSF egress (or exiting) from the brain.
The initial Grysbowski-Katz project centers on identifying receptors that are involved in vitamin A pathways in the arachnoid membrane. The receptors will be detected by special immunohistochemistry techniques and through the use of the Western Blot test. Data collected from the research study will be used in combination with data collected from human sera and CSF in both idiopathic IH patients and age/weight matched controls.
Once the receptor project is completed, the researchers will introduce vitamin A into laboratory cell models. The cell models are designed to study the mechanism of CSF egress regulation.
Dr. Gryzbowski and Dr. Katz will head a team of researchers for these studies. Dr. Grzybowski is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology at Ohio State. Dr. Katz is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Ohio State. Both Dr. Grzybowski and Dr. Katz are distinguished members of the IHRF Scientific Advisors team.
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