More on stroke and inflammation

As we have discussed these past two weeks, stroke inflammation is a leading cause of death in victims. The suppression of these inflammatory cytokines using drugs can potentially reduce the volume of infarction. In this study, researches tested the thrombolytic drug rtPA that can possibly save brain tissue known as ischemic penumbra. This drug works by degrading the thrombus in the artery and restoring the circulation distal to the obstruction. However, this is a neurotoxic drug that cannot leak into the blood brain barrier, therefore, should be controlled and restricted to the vascular compartment.

Researchers have made clear that anti-inflammatory strategies in animal stroke models after several days salvage viable brain tissue. These drugs can lengthen the therapeutic window and reduce the side affects of rtPA. Investigators think that anti-inflammatory strategies should receive more attention because they have a broad application for all aspects of stroke.

This article was very interesting and similar to the E-selectin basic review we looked at last week.

M. Nilupul Perera, Henry K. Ma, Shuji Arakawa, David W. Howells, Romesh Markus, Christopher C. Rowe, Geoffrey A. Donnan, Inflammation following stroke, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2006, Pages 1-8, ISSN 0967-5868, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2005.07.005. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967586805003413)