The family of a patient with Juvenile Huntington’s Disease (JHD), a rare inherited disorder that causes progressive neuro-degeneration, donated his brain to NIMHANS for research on Monday.
The doctors said, “This is the first instance of a JHD brain donation at the institute.”
Last year, the NIMHANS Brain Bank received its first brain donation from an adult patient with Huntington’s Disease (HD). Researchers at the institute have already begun studies on that specimen.
The deceased, Jagadeesha, hailed from Kalagotla village in Yemmiganur mandal of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh. He began showing early symptoms of JHD in 2014, at the age of 12, including learning difficulties and behavioural changes. He was first evaluated at NIMHANS in 2017.
Anita Mahadevan, professor and head of the Department of Neuropathology and Coordinator of the NIMHANS Brain Bank, said a team from the institute travelled to the village, and the brain was harvested (within 24 hours of death) at a government facility there.
