By Danielle Houghton
UF neuroscience associate professor, Eduardo Candelario-Jalil, Ph. D. and his team find emerging neuroprotective strategies for the treatment of ischemic stroke in an overview of clinical and preclinical studies. This research provides an update on recent advances in the development of novel stroke therapeutics.
This invited review article is part of an Experimental Neurology special issue focused on comorbidities in ischemic stroke. “We summarize recent advances and failures in ischemic stroke clinical trials, and discuss the ongoing efforts towards the development of novel therapies for ischemic stroke,” explains Candelario-Jalil.
Candelario-Jalil and team investigated into therapies for the more common type of stroke known as an ischemic stroke, caused by an abrupt blockage of an artery. The less common type of stroke is caused due to bleeding into brain tissue when a blood vessel ruptures. This is known as a hemorrhagic stroke.
Strokes are common in countries everywhere. It is the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death worldwide. “With the global population aged 65 and over growing faster than all other age groups, the incidence of stroke is also increasing.” The research also mentions that there is a shift in the overall stroke burden towards younger age groups, particularly in low and middle-income countries. This could be for a number of reasons including poor community knowledge on stroke risks, its warning signs, and other important related information.
While treatment options for stroke are still limited, there is hope in the advancement in recanalization therapy, where some progress has been made in helping patients recover from ischemic stroke. Even with this, there is “still a substantial need for the development of therapeutic agents for neuroprotection in acute ischemic stroke to protect the brain from damage prior to and during recanalization, extend the therapeutic time window for intervention, and further improve functional outcome.”
“We extensively reviewed the neuropathological mechanisms involved in neuronal cell death following ischemic stroke, as well as the underlying molecular mechanism(s) of neuroprotection of different therapies, which could assist in the development of future therapeutic strategies for stroke,” concludes Candelario-Jalil.