Sigyn Therapeutics Launches Initiative to Evaluate Medical Technologies for CTE in Former NFL Players

Sigyn Therapeutics, Inc., developer of CardioDialysis, a medical device for continuous broad-spectrum clearance of inflammatory and pathogenic molecules from the bloodstream, 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 (ALS), 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 the protective blood-brain barrier (BBB) shield can be compromised by chronic inflammation and remain leaky for decades after an athlete retires from a sport involving repetitive head trauma. As a result, inflammatory and pathogenic molecules are able 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. It will also 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 BBB permeability, along with completing the evaluation of other candidate therapies including a tau vaccine and brain-delivered anti-inflammatory drug agent.

Jim Joyce, CEO of Sigyn Therapeutics, stated, "Based on my 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 BBB-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 that was observed by the Trinity College researchers. To learn more about Sigyn Therapeutics, visit https://www.SigynTherapeutics.com. View the original release on https://www.newmediawire.com.