Sudden Death Brain and Tissue Bank

Scientific research ultimately aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the public. To achieve this we need to understand the mechanisms of disease such that we may try to develop new treatments. Diseases of the nervous system in particular cause considerable suffering not just to the individual but also to the carers. To better understand disease processes requires the study of animal models, to try and work out the mechanisms of a disease, and then translation of these mechanisms to the human setting. It is in this translation that collected human material, obtained at autopsy with the full consent of the next of kin, is invaluable. It is through the donation of tissues to scientific research that some carers are able to achieve peace of mind that some good may come from the death of a family member. Brain tissue has been collected for many years from cases of long-term neurological diseases such as dementia and multiple sclerosis. In the setting of sudden death, where the bereavement is often felt more acutely due to the unexpectedness of the death and often due to the young age of the individuals involved, donating tissues to scientific research has previously not been an option available to the next of kin. The MRC sudden death brain and tissue bank provides this opportunity. Although many individuals dying suddenly may have no neurological disease at the time of death, their tissues can provide valuable information when compared to brain of an individual with established neurological disease. This control function of normal brain tissue is essential to investigation of all brain disorders and is as important as getting access to tissue from brain disorders.

This application relates to the development of a tissue bank derived from sudden death post mortem cases and builds on a pilot study which is currently funded by MRC. We have put in place a mechanism which allows the collection of central nervous system (CNS) and other tissue samples from medico-legal post mortems with the knowledge and full support of the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Crown Office and the Procurators Fiscal in Edinburgh. This will provide an ethically approved resource of human post mortem CNS tissue samples for use by the wider scientific community. The bank will concentrate on control tissues, covering all ages, to provide age-matched controls for other researchers. In addition the bank will store tissues from hard to get disorders, and from disorders which reflect the applicants particular research interests. Where required non-CNS tissues can be banked in response to specific requests from researchers. This bank will provide a unique resource and will address a recognised worldwide shortage of control tissues within the research community.