Sigyn Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: SIGY), developer of CardioDialysis, a medical device enabling continuous broad-spectrum clearance of inflammatory and pathogenic molecules from the bloodstream, announced today 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 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, researchers at Trinity College Dublin recently reported that chronic inflammation can compromise the protective blood-brain barrier (BBB), leaving it leaky for decades after an athlete retires. This allows inflammatory and pathogenic molecules to enter the brain, triggering neuroinflammation that accelerates abnormal tau-protein accumulation, a hallmark of CTE. Based on this discovery, many former NFL players may 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 technologies with potential to diagnose, monitor, or treat CTE. The initiative plans to: evaluate the feasibility of CardioDialysis, an extracorporeal blood purification technology, to reduce circulating inflammatory and pathogenic molecules fueling CTE progression; complete an evaluation of blood-based neuron-derived exosome assays that monitor CTE progression and response to therapies; and evaluate other candidate therapies including a tau vaccine and brain-delivered anti-inflammatory drug agent.
“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,” stated Jim Joyce, CEO of Sigyn Therapeutics.
CardioDialysis is the first technology to integrate plasma separation and therapeutic adsorption into a single device, enabling continuous broad-spectrum clearance of inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and bacterial endotoxin—key BBB-crossing contributors to CTE progression. Excessive inflammatory cytokine production also increases gut permeability, allowing bacterial endotoxin to leak into the bloodstream, amplifying inflammation into a chronic self-perpetuating loop of neuroinflammation.
To learn more about Sigyn Therapeutics, visit: www.SigynTherapeutics.com.
