2011-11-28
MultiPark researchers at Lund University have discovered that the standard medication for Parkinson’s disease, L-DOPA, may enhance the brain's ability to heal itself after a stroke. Few options exist today for treating a stroke patient. The only acute therapy availible is thrombolysis, a method that helps dissolve the blood clot in the brain. The disadvantage of the thrombolysis is that it must be performed within hours of the trauma, leaving many patients without a viable tratment alternative.
L-DOPA has been previously reported to produce beneficial effects on neurological recovery in stroke patients. The MultiPark researchers have now succeeded in proving, in rat models for stroke, that the rats treated with L-DOPA demonstrated a significant improvement in motor skills during the rehabilitation phase. By extension, this means that the therapeutic window for stroke patients could be expanded and a much larger proportion of those who suffer a stroke should be able to receive better care.
Some neural pathways in the brain are particularly important for the ability to control movements. L-DOPA helps release the key neurotransmitter dopamine, a substance lacking in PD patients. The influx of dopamine restores the "traffic" in the neural circuits that control movements. The role of L-DOPA in stroke recovery would have a similar role, over-stimulating the motor cortex of the stroke patient's brain in the important recovery phase. If the method proves effective, the process of re-learning basic motor skills such as walking and dressing oneself could go much faster.
The advantage of using an approved drug is that it is much cheaper and the road from the laboratory to the patient becomes significantly shorter.
- Being able to use an existing drug has advantages. This way, clinical testing can be minimized and the treatment can quickly come to the benefit of stroke patients. We also hope to identify previously unknown dopamine effects in the future to be able to develop more specific drugs for recovery in stroke, says Karsten Rusch, first author of the study.
Text: Jens Persson
Publication:
Scientific article, title: ”Levodopa Treatment Improves Functional Recovery After Experimental Stroke” published in STROKE http://stroke.ahajournals.org/
Contact:
Karsten Ruscher, Researcher at the Laboratory for Experimental Brain Research at Lund University
Tel: 046 - 222 206 13, e-mail: Karsten.Ruscher@med.lu.se
Page Manager: Jens Persson
Last modified: 2011-11-28
