VIDEO:New research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio suggests that an already-approved drug could reduce the debilitating impact of strokes. MIce that had treatment with... view more
Credit: Drs. Mark S. Shapiro, Sonya Bierbower and James D. Lechleiter/The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 11, 2015) -- Retigabine, a drug approved to treat epilepsy, protected the brain against the effects of ischemic stroke in a study conducted at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Findings are in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Sonya Bierbower, Ph.D., and Mark S. Shapiro, Ph.D., of the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center, compared treated and untreated mice after a stroke. In a balance beam exercise, untreated mice exhibited a pronounced loss of coordination with slips and falls. Retigabine-treated mice had no difficulty with balance, ambulation or turning around on the beam. See the video.
"You couldn't even tell they had a stroke," Dr. Shapiro, professor of physiology and senior author, said. "They ran across the balance beam like gymnasts."
Effects in tissue
Brain tissue of the treated mice showed significantly reduced damage, compared to untreated mice. Protective effects of the medication were observed up to five days after the stroke, said Dr. Bierbower, lead author and postdoctoral fellow in the Shapiro laboratory.
In an ischemic stroke, blood flow to the brain is suddenly cut off because a vessel gets blocked. The lone treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a clot-busting drug called tPA (tissue plasminogen activator). Since tPA severely thins blood, it can't be administered to many stroke patients.
Different system
The initial injury, the stroke, is followed by a cascade of nerve cell death in the brain. Retigabine works on a different system than tPA, acting directly on the nerve cells to minimize damage.
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Epilepsy drug could aid stroke victims