Henry Ford Study: Synthetic Peptide May Regenerate Brain Tissue in Stroke Victims
03 Juin 2010 - 5:10PM
Business Wire
A synthetic version of a naturally occurring peptide promoted
the creation of new blood vessels and repaired damaged nerve cells
in lab animals, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in
Detroit.
“This successful experiment holds promise for treating
clot-induced strokes in humans,” says study lead author Daniel C.
Morris, M.D., senior staff physician in the Department of Emergency
Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital. “Neurorestorative therapy is the
next frontier in the treatment of stroke.”
He will present the findings June 3 at the Annual Meeting of the
Society for Academic Emergency Medicine in Phoenix.
Dr. Morris explains that the researchers added the synthetic
peptide Thymosin beta 4 to a group of drug treatments – including
statins – used for neurorestorative therapy to activate repair
mechanisms which mimic cellular changes that occur in the early
stages of brain development.
This research follows an earlier study, reported by the same
team in March, which found that Thymosin beta 4 improved
neurological function after stroke in adult rats by increasing the
formation of protective myelin around nerve fibers in brain
cells.
These experiments conclude that the peptide repairs and
regenerates stroke-injured brain tissue.
The results of the first study also were similar to other
research using the peptide to regenerate damaged heart, corneal
tissue and wound repair.
In the latest study, adult rats were dosed with Thymosin beta 4
one day after they were subjected to a blockage in the cerebral
artery, then given four more doses, once every three days. Rats
treated only with saline were used as a control group.
After eight weeks, the Thymosin beta 4 group showed significant
overall improvement compared to the control group.
The researchers concluded that the peptide improved blood vessel
density as well as promoted a certain type of immature brain cells
called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to differentiate into
mature oligodendrocytes, which produces myelin to protect axons in
nerve cells.
In addition to Dr. Morris, the Henry Ford research team included
Michael Chopp, Ph.D.; Li Zhang, M.D.; and Zheng Gang Zhang.
Thymosin beta 4 is produced by RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals,
Inc.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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