ADVANCE for Speech-Language Pathologists and... -
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Published on: 11/10/2004
Last Visited: 12/19/2005
"We were very surprised," said principal investigator Alison Willing, PhD, a neuroscientist at the USF Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair."In some animals, the stroke initially damaged half the brain, but after treatment with the cord blood cells they were functioning normally.
"These findings show we are able to rescue neurons at a time when most research suggests they are already dead."
Dr. Willing presented the preliminary findings last month at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, DC.
The only drug currently approved for ischemic stroke treatment is tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), which breaks up blood clots - the cause of most strokes.However, tPA must be given within three hours following a stroke to be effective and few patients arrive at the hospital quickly enough to receive it.Even when a patient meets the recommended three-hour treatment criteria, smaller hospitals often lack ready access to a CT scan, a test needed to rule out a hemorrhagic stroke caused by a burst blood vessel.The drug can worsen this less common type of stroke.
"New and more flexible treatments are needed to help more patients," Dr. Willing said.
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"This delayed death would permit more time to deliver neuron-sparing treatments than originally thought," Dr. Willing said.
The USF researchers continue to investigate the ways cord blood cells aid stroke recovery in animals, and will begin a study to determine the timing of brain inflammatory responses in acute stroke patients.
Researchers working with Dr. Willing were Jennifer Newcomb, Ted Ajmo, Lisa Collier, Cyndy Davis Sanberg, PhD; Keith Pennypacker, PhD; and Paul R. Sanberg, DSc, PhD.
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Dr. Sanberg is a cofounder of Saneron CCEL, and Dr. Willing is a consultant.