A drug used to treat epilepsy may dramatically reduce the debilitating effects of stroke, researchers say.
Some 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year. About 130,000 of them die and many who survive are left disabled.
However, researchers report in a new study on mice that the anti-epilepsy drug retigabine preserved brain tissue and prevented the loss of balance control and motor coordination.
Researchers at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio conducted the study. Hours after a stroke, both treated mice and a control group of mice were placed on a balance beam to observe motor coordination. The untreated mice displayed a pronounced loss of coordination with slips and falls. Treated mice had no difficulty with balance, ambulation or turning around on the beam.
They studied ischemic stroke, in which oxygen and nutrients are suddenly cut off due to a clot in a blood vessel. This is the type of stroke most often seen in humans.
"You couldn't even tell they had a stroke. They ran across the balance beam like gymnasts " said lead author Mark S. Shapiro, Ph.D. in the study, which is published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Analysis of the brain tissue of treated mice showed significantly reduced damage after the stroke compared to untreated mice.
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