Most treatments for stroke are to reduce or repair damage to affected neurons But a new study in mice shows that a drug already used to treat some neurological diseases can help patients recover from stroke by connecting undamaged neurons
When an ischemic stroke occurs, clogged blood vessels interrupt blood flow to the brain and cause neuronal death. Survivors may suffer from fine motor control and language disorders and other disabilities, which often require a very long period of rehabilitation.
Logically, many treatments being developed focus on minimizing or reversing damage to neurons, using stem cells, anti-inflammatory drugs, injectable hydrogels, or molecules that convert adjacent cells into neurons.
But in a new study, researchers from Ohio State University have found a promising alternative - a drug called gabapentin, which can basically reconstruct the undamaged part of the brain to repair broken connections between neurons and restore motor function.
To test the drug, the team injected mice with gabapentin every day for six weeks after a stroke. The results showed that the recovery of fine motor function of forelimbs in treated mice was much higher than that in control mice, and this improvement still existed two weeks after the end of treatment. The team says this shows that changes have been consolidated in the nervous system.
The drug blocks a drug called α The expression of 2delta2 receptor protein, which becomes "overexcited" after injury such as stroke and prevents the growth of axons, which can repair the injury. When gabapentin blocked the protein, neurons on the undamaged side of the brain were seen sprouting new axons and restoring signals, enabling animals to restore some motor function.
Andrea Tedeschi, the first author of the research paper, pointed out: "Imagine that this protein is the brake pedal, and rehabilitation is the accelerator pedal. You can press the accelerator pedal, but you can't accelerate as long as you still press the brake pedal. If you start to raise the brake pedal and press the accelerator continuously, you can really speed up the recovery. We think this is the effect of gabapentin on neurons, and there is also the contribution of non neuronal cells, which can enter the process and make it more effective 。”
As usual, there is no guarantee that the results of animal research will be brought into humans, but there is at least one good sign in this case. Gabapentin has been used in humans to treat other neurological diseases such as neuropathic pain and seizures, and its safety record and side effects are well known.