Antioxidant Reduces Brain Damage from Stroke

A synthetic antioxidant has been shown to reduce brain damage by more than 40% in an animal model of stroke when given seven and a half hours after the stroke begins. The research was reported in the October 2002 issue of Free Radical Biology and Medicine.

Following a stroke, many of the cells that are injured but not killed by oxygen deprivation die in the hours following the stroke. Free radicals kill many of those cells. The researchers used a synthetic antioxidant, called AEOL 10150, to neutralize the damaging free radicals and reduce cell death in a mouse model of stroke. This antioxidant mimics the naturally occurring antioxidant superoxide dismutase but is effective against a wider range of oxygen radicals and lasts longer in the body.

The researchers blocked the middle cerebral artery of rats for 90 minutes, then injected AEOL 10150 or a placebo into their brains six hours after the artery had been reopened. When evaluated a week later, the animals who received the placebo had an average of 160 cubic mm of brain tissue destroyed by the stroke, while those who received the antioxidant has an average of only 92 cubic mm of brain tissue destroyed, or 43% less.

"Our findings suggest that the antioxidant is a promising candidate for stroke therapy because it can prevent damage so many hours after the stroke begins,” said James Crapo, M.D., coauthor of the study and chairman of the department of medicine at National Jewish Medical (Denver, CO, USA). The new antioxidant was created by Dr. Crapo and colleagues at Duke University (Durham, NC, USA).




Related Links:
National Jewish Medical
Duke University Med Ctr.