UCLA develops first stroke recovery drug that restores brain function
Stroke patients could soon have a new path to recovery, as researchers have developed what they believe is the first drug to support full rehabilitation without the need for intensive physical therapy, a Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Scientists at UCLA discovered the breakthrough after narrowing their search to two possible drugs. According to findings published in Nature Communications, one of them—called DDL-920 and developed at UCLA—helped mice completely regain movement control, a major challenge for many stroke survivors.
This is a big step forward because, until now, there hasn’t been a drug that helps with stroke recovery. Patients have only had physical therapy to help repair the brain’s signals for movement.
“The goal is to have a medicine that stroke patients can take that produces the effects of rehabilitation,” said Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael, professor and chair of UCLA Neurology.
“Rehabilitation after stroke is limited in its actual effects because most patients cannot sustain the rehab intensity needed for stroke recovery."
“Further, stroke recovery is not like most other fields of medicine, where drugs are available that treat the disease—such as cardiology, infectious disease or cancer,” he added. “Rehabilitation is a physical medicine approach that has been around for decades; we need to move rehabilitation into an era of molecular medicine.”
In the study, Carmichael’s team used mice to find an area of the brain where stroke had broken communication. This spot was far from the stroke’s main damage, so the neurons there couldn’t repair themselves. This leads to movement and motor problems in patients.
They found that stroke disrupted signals to special brain cells called parvalbumin neurons, which are important for movement and behavior. These cells also create a brain rhythm called gamma oscillation, which stops working after a stroke.
The drug restored those brain rhythms in mice and reconnected the neurons—healing the brain without the need for long-term physical rehabilitation.
It was recently reported that a study by the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health highlights a strong link between environmental factors and the risk of dementia, drawing attention to the impact of air pollution and urban design on cognitive health.