Strokes jab could halt crippling brain damage
A POTENT drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could help prevent damage to the brain caused by a stroke, scientists revealed yesterday.
An injection of Anakinra can halve the amount of destruction to brain cells.
Professor Stuart Allan, of Manchester University, whose team has spent 20 years investigating the effects of strokes, said: “This drug has real potential to save lives and stop hundreds of thousands of people being seriously disabled. It really could be the treatment for stroke we’ve been looking for over two decades.”
Every year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK suffer a stroke. A third of these will die, a third will be left with long-term severe disability and a third will make some form of recovery.
Fellow researcher Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell described the results of tests on rats as “very promising”. She added: “We hope to undertake further clinical studies in patients soon.”
The drug works by blocking a protein called interleukin 1, which is a key cause of brain injury after a stroke. The protein encourages inflammation, attracting white blood cells which enter the weakened brain where they kill nerve cells and worsen the injury.
We are very excited by this research and look forward to the results of a trial
The drug reduces damage to the blood-brain barrier so the harmful cells cannot enter.
Dr Clare Walton, of the Stroke Association, said: “We are very excited by this research and look forward to the results of a trial.”
