HJNO May/Jun 2025

34 MAY / JUN 2025  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs Tulane Study Links Intense Energy Bursts to Ventilator- Induced Lung Injury A new study from Tulane University suggests that repeated collapse and reopening of tiny alveoli — air sacs in the lungs essential for breathing — during mechanical ventilation may cause microscopic tissue damage, playing a key role in ventilator-related injuries that contribute to thousands of deaths annually. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , the study sheds light on ventilator-induced lung injury, a compli- cation that gained increased attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a surge in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. These devices pump oxygen-rich air into a patient’s air- ways when they are unable to breathe adequately on their own. The study identified that alveolar recruitment/ derecruitment — when collapsed air sacs in the lungs repeatedly open and close — accounts for only 2-5% of energy dissipation during ventilation but correlates directly with lung injury in a model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). "It's like a tiny explosion at the delicate lung surface," said lead author Donald P. Gaver, a bio- medical engineering professor at Tulane Univer- sity School of Science and Engineering. "Though small in magnitude, it creates a power intensity of about 100 watts per square meter — comparable to sunlight exposure." ARDS is a severe lung condition that affects roughly 10% of intensive care unit patients and carries a mortality rate of 30-40%, even with mod- ern ventilation techniques. Using a pig model of ARDS, the team examined how ventilator energy is transferred and dissipated in the lungs. The researchers found that reducing this type of energy dissipation led to rapid recovery, while patients continued to deteriorate when 5-10% of alveoli underwent repetitive recruitment/ derecruitment. The study suggests that minimizing these repet- itive collapse-and-reopening cycles could sig- nificantly reduce ventilator-induced lung injury. Researchers noted that adjusting ventilation strat- egies to prevent such events may improve out- comes for critically ill patients. The study’s findings could also help inform the development of new ventilation protocols aimed at reducing lung injury and improving patient care in intensive care units worldwide. “Follow-up steps should include develop- ing real-time monitoring devices to quantify reopening events and integrating this data into treatment strategies to optimize ventilation and improve patient outcomes,” Gaver said. This research was completed in collaboration with the University of Vermont, the State Uni- versity of New York Upstate Medical University (SUNY Upstate), and the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. LSUHealth Professor to Present NewDiscoveries on Neurodegenerative Diseases at International Conference World renowned neuroscientist and director of LSU Health New Orleans’ Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Nicolas Bazan, MD, and his team made an innovative discovery that can change the approach to treatment of critical brain inju- ries and illnesses including stroke, ALS, trau- matic brain injuries (concussions), spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. By uncover- ing a neuroprotective molecule produced by the brain, for which Bazan and his team coined the name elovanoids (ELVs), they are working to find ways to put those molecules to work in the brain to protect against brain injuries and neurodegen- erative illnesses. Bazan was asked to present his findings at a distinguished international confer- ence this month in Rome, Italy: “Neurodegenera- tive Diseases: frommolecular mechanisms to pro- spective therapies” sponsored by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, by the Deutsche Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE) and by Springer Nature. The ELVs, discovered by Bazan and his research team, are derived from omega 3 fatty acids, which are known for the many health benefits they pro- vide including lowering blood pressure and pre- venting heart disease and stroke. The work that Bazan will present in Rome shows that ELVs are cell-specific mediators necessary for the protec- tion of brain synaptic integrity. This discovery, and Bazan’s continued work in this space, will fill gaps in prevention and treatment of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. “Our ongoing quest in medicine is, in a way, reflected as a response to one major challenge to civilization: the growing incidence of demen- tia,” shared Bazan. “Although age is the main risk factor, not everyone develops dementia dur- ing aging.” The lecture will disclose studies using exper- imental traumatic brain injury (concussions) or stroke, which are conditions that in many instances lead to cognition deficits and even dementia. The design of the study included intra- nasal delivery of ELVs after those injuries and the subsequent identification of cell-specific gene expression as well as of encoded proteins. This was determined by analyzing 25,000 different cells from the cerebral cortex using AI machine learning algorithms. “Dr. Bazan’s inclusion in this conference is a tes- tament to the pivotal research he and his team are conducting every day,” said Dean of the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, Richard DiCarlo, MD. “We are proud to support and fos- ter research into preventing and treating neuro- degenerative diseases, which are rising steadily due to our aging population.” Traumatic brain injuries and stroke cause dys- functions related to calcium signaling, mitochon- drial function, cell-cell interactions, perturbations in cell-specific clusters and oxidative stress. ELVs alter these cell-specific impairments to promote neuroprotection after one of these incidents. Decreased cognition has been neither prevent- able nor treatable; however, growing evidence through Bazan’s research supports the notion that it is preventable and at least delayable in many instances. The lecture will conclude by Nicolas Bazan, MD