When drugs are injected into bones, they very quickly reach other parts of the body. We know this because when trauma surgeons can’t get quick access to a vein, they can inject directly into a patient’s leg bone. Somehow, the drugs quickly leave the bone marrow and circulate around the body. Now, scientists have found a network of tiny blood vessels that travel straight through bones and very likely explain how this transport system works. The team in Germany used a technique called ‘clearing’ to make bones transparent. Then they were able to examine the bones under a microscope, identifying hundreds of tiny capillaries that they have called ‘trans-cortical vessels’ or TCVs. The TCVs also transport immune cells out of the bone marrow, where they are made, and may aid in treating conditions such as stroke and arthritis.
Read the original research paper here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-018-0016-5
