Monday, April 7, 2008

Botox May Move From Face to Brain


Posted: 2008-04-05 19:33:52

A woman receives a Botox injection. A study on rats suggested that the active ingredient in the drug may end up in parts of the brain connected to injection sites.

(April 2) -- Botox may do more than diminish wrinkles. A new study suggests that the botulinum toxin -- the active ingredient in the skin treatment -- may move from its injection site to the brain.

According to a study in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists injected the toxin into rats' whisker muscles. Within three days, they saw evidence that the substance had moved to the animals' brain stems.

The toxin "was generally thought to act locally," said Christopher von Bartheld, a University of Nevada doctor, in a press release on the study from the Society for Neuroscience. "But these basic research findings show how it can be transported and spread along axons to distant sites in the central nervous system of animals, where it can have significant and long-lasting effects on neuronal function."
Fox News has the full story.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345068,00.html


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2008-04-05 16:28:29
http://news.aol.com/health/story/ar/_a/botox-may-move-from-face-to-brain/20080405162709990001