An experimental drug supporting the nervous system repair in an animal model could help thousands of stroke survivors.
Scientists at the Case Western Reserve University in Ohio have previously identified a protein receptor that binds to the chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs) – the most abundant components of glial scar that play a crucial inhibitory role in regeneration, preventing repair of damaged brain tissue.
The new drug, which is a peptide, aims to target the CSPG layer.
For testing the drug, the team injected 40 mice daily with the peptide or saline solution for three weeks, starting one week after they had a surgery-induced ischaemic stroke.
The researchers measured the time it took for the mice to escape a maze that they learned to navigate pre-stroke and found that those that received the drug solved the maze more than twice as quickly, on average, compared with those given saline injections, suggesting the treatment improved their memory and motor skills.
“Our drug prevents this stickiness so the tissue can be repaired,” Jerry Silver at Case Western Reserve University told the New Scientist magazine.
The study has also found that the mice which were given the peptide had an increased number of connections between their neurons. Brain stem cells had also migrated into the injury site, forming new neurons.
Currently, no drug on the market can repair the damage on the brain following an ischaemic stroke.
However, the new peptide was found to be safe in early Phase I clinical trials for spinal cord injuries and researchers hope to gauge drug dosing by starting to test it in healthy volunteers.
