Get this on the fast track to clinical trials. Millions are waiting for an answer.
Again its good to be a rat in stroke research. If we had a decent foundation it could sponsor trials and donations would flow in for this stuff. But they didn't say how far along this chronic phase was.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/245672.php
New research from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging shows that modifying the scar tissue that develops following a stroke
is a promising avenue for future treatments. The need for therapeutics
for chronic stroke is compelling. There are 750,000 new strokes per year
in the U.S., a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Aside from
physical and occupational therapy, treatments for the six million
patients in the U.S. who suffer from chronic stroke are lacking; the
vast majority of patients remain in an ongoing state of disability with
little hope of return to normal function.
The research, published in the online edition of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, builds
on ongoing spinal cord repair studies. Working in rats, scientists in
the Greenberg laboratory infused the stroke cavity with either the
enzyme chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) or the protein heparan sulfate
proteoglycan glypican (glypican). In both cases the treatments improved
outcome in the animals - they had less weakness and improved
coordination.
Lead scientist, Justin Hill, MD, says both treatments reduced the size
of the scar tissue that had formed following the stroke and essentially
"woke up" neurons in the areas surrounding the injury, stimulating the
growth of new neurites, which are the terminal extensions of nerves. "We
think the scar tissue not only blocks off areas of the brain that are
injured during stroke, we also believe the scar tissue secretes factors
that impact the function of nearby neurons," said Hill. "Dissolving the
scar may spur neurons to re-route connections around the area injured
during the stroke." Researchers found that treatment with glypican
increased the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) near the
site of injury and that ChABC increased brain-derived neurotrophic
factor (BDNF) expression, both of which have been shown to increase
neuron size and survival.
"There are only a handful of laboratories that are focused on treatments
for chronic stroke," said Buck faculty David Greenberg, MD, PhD. "Dr.
Hill's research is groundbreaking in that it is the first to apply this
research on spinal cord injury to stroke and uncovers some of the
underlying mechanisms involved in improved function."
Future research is aimed at discovering possible drug candidates to help patients suffering from chronic stroke.
I hope this research pans out. However, it's not good to be a rat in a brain study. Researchers don't put rats in tiny MRI machines. They kill the rat and look at slices of its brain under a microscope.
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