Discovery suggests way to block fetal brain damage produced by oxygen deprivation

Examining brain damage that occurs when fetuses in the womb are deprived of oxygen, researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that damage does not occur randomly but is linked to the specific action of a naturally occurring fatty molecule called LPA, acting through a receptor that transfers information into young brain cells.


—specifically, the receptor for the phospholipid molecule lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) 


What Chun and his colleagues found, however, is that hypoxia causes the neurons to become overstimulated, mimicking effects produced by excessive LPA exposure. Genetically removing the receptors for LPA or blocking them through drugs stopped these effects.


http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-discovery-block-fetal-brain-oxygen.html