Sigyn Therapeutics, Inc. has announced the launch of an initiative to evaluate emerging medical technologies in former NFL players at risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Former NFL players experience significantly higher rates of neurodegenerative diseases compared to the general population, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and CTE, which has been diagnosed post-mortem in a majority of former NFL players.
While repetitive head trauma is a known trigger for CTE initiation, chronic inflammation has been discovered to be the principal driver of disease progression. Last month, researchers at Trinity College Dublin reported that the protective blood-brain barrier shield can be compromised by chronic inflammation and remain leaky for decades after an athlete retires from a sport involving repetitive head trauma. This allows inflammatory and pathogenic molecules to leak into the brain, triggering neuroinflammation that can accelerate an abnormal accumulation of tau-protein, the hallmark indicator of CTE.
Based on this discovery, it is anticipated that many former NFL players could be living in a persistent state of hyper-inflammation that increases their risk for CTE. In response, Sigyn Therapeutics is establishing a collaborative initiative to evaluate emerging medical technologies in former NFL players that have the potential to diagnose, monitor or treat CTE. The initiative plans to evaluate the feasibility of CardioDialysis, an extracorporeal blood purification technology to reduce the circulating presence of key inflammatory and pathogenic molecules that are known to fuel CTE progression.
The initiative also plans to complete an evaluation of blood-based neuron-derived exosome assays that offer to monitor CTE progression, response to therapies, and provide potential insight into changes in blood-brain barrier permeability. Additionally, the evaluation will include other candidate therapies such as a tau vaccine and brain-delivered anti-inflammatory drug agent. Jim Joyce, CEO of Sigyn Therapeutics, stated that based on his previous participation in two landmark studies of CTE in former NFL players, the knowledge that the brains of collision sport athletes can remain permeable for decades opens the door to new strategies to diagnose CTE in the living and for treating the disease through a targeted control of inflammation.
In the field of subtractive medicine, CardioDialysis is the first technology to integrate plasma separation and therapeutic adsorption into a single device that enables continuous broad-spectrum clearance of both inflammatory and pathogenic molecules from the bloodstream. This includes the clearance of inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, as well as bacterial endotoxin, which are among the most relevant blood-brain barrier-crossing contributors to CTE progression. Related to CTE, excessive inflammatory cytokine production also increases gut permeability, allowing bacterial endotoxin to leak into the bloodstream, which further amplifies inflammation into the chronic self-perpetuating loop of neuroinflammation observed by the Trinity College researchers.
This initiative represents a significant step toward addressing the long-term health consequences faced by former professional athletes and could potentially lead to breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating CTE in living patients. The evaluation of multiple therapeutic approaches reflects the complexity of neurodegenerative diseases and the need for comprehensive strategies to combat them. More information about Sigyn Therapeutics can be found at https://www.SigynTherapeutics.com.
