Growth Hormone Promotes Motor Function after Experimental Stroke and Enhances Recovery-Promoting Mechanisms within the Peri-Infarct Area

I see nothing here that suggests that a protocol was written and distributed to all stroke hospitals in the world.  So because we have no great stroke association with a database of all research and  protocols and the means to distribute stroke research to all stroke medical professionals and every one of the 10 million yearly stroke survivors, this will fall by the wayside. 

 

Growth Hormone Promotes Motor Function after Experimental Stroke and Enhances Recovery-Promoting Mechanisms within the Peri-Infarct Area

Sonia Sanchez-Bezanilla 1,2 , N. David Åberg 3,4, Patricia Crock 2,5, Frederick R. Walker 1,2,6,7, Michael Nilsson 1,2,6,7,8, Jörgen Isgaard 1,3,4,*,† and Lin Kooi Ong 1,2,6,9,*,† 1 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, the University of Newcastle, University Dr, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; sonia.sanchezbezanilla@uon.edu.au (S.S.-B.); rohan.walker@newcastle.edu.au (F.R.W.); michael.nilsson@newcastle.edu.au (M.N.) 2 Brain and Mental Health, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Lot 1, Kookaburra Cct, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia; patricia.crock@newcastle.edu.au 3 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden; david.aberg@medic.gu.se 4 Department of Internal Medicine, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Blå stråket 5, 413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden 5 Department of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, John Hunter Children’s Hospital, Kookaburra Cct, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia 6 NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery, 245 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia 7 Centre for Rehab Innovations, Lot 1, Kookaburra Cct, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia 8 LKC School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Ave, Singapore 639798, Singapore 9 School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia * Correspondence: jorgen.isgaard@medic.gu.se (J.I.); ong.linkooi@monash.edu (L.K.O.) † These authors contributed equally to this work.
Received: 20 December 2019; Accepted: 15 January 2020; Published: 17 January 2020

Abstract: Motor impairment is the most common and widely recognised clinical outcome after stroke. Current clinical practice in stroke rehabilitation focuses mainly on physical therapy, with no pharmacological intervention approved to facilitate functional recovery. Several studies have documented positive effects of growth hormone (GH) on cognitive function after stroke, but surprisingly, the effects on motor function remain unclear. In this study, photothrombotic occlusion targeting the motor and sensory cortex was induced in adult male mice. Two days post-stroke, mice were administered with recombinant human GH or saline, continuing for 28 days, followed by evaluation of motor function. Three days after initiation of the treatment, bromodeoxyuridine was administered for subsequent assessment of cell proliferation. Known neurorestorative processes within the periinfarct area were evaluated by histological and biochemical analyses at 30 days post-stroke. This study demonstrated that GH treatment improves motor function after stroke by 50%–60%, as assessed using the cylinder and grid walk tests. Furthermore, the observed functional improvements occurred in parallel with a reduction in brain tissue loss, as well as increased cell proliferation, neurogenesis, increased synaptic plasticity and angiogenesis within the periinfarct area. These findings provide new evidence about the potential therapeutic effects of GH in stroke recovery