A West Australian research team has made a discovery which could help minimise the side effects from a stroke.
Researchers at the WA Neuroscience Research Institute (WANRI) have found that certain peptides, made up of small chains of amino acids, can limit brain damage after a stroke.
The laboratory based research on rats supported by Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital began in 2012 and has found that particular peptides administered via an IV drip, can reduce brain damage when administered 30 minutes to one hour after the onset of a stroke.
Adjunct Associate Professor Bruno Meloni and Clinical Professor Neville Knuckey led the research team behind the findings.
Professor Meloni said he believes it is a potential treatment to improve a patient’s quality of life after a stroke.
“We have found is that long chains of these amino acids, which make up the peptide, have neuroprotective properties that can protect the brain from injuries such as stroke,” he said.
Professor Meloni said there are currently no neuroprotective treatments available after a stroke.
“It’s an area that many researchers are no longer pursuing as everything has failed to date, some have lost hope that neuroprotection of this kind will ever become available,” he said.
Professor Meloni said some brain injury occurs within minutes of a stroke occurring and they were difficult to prevent.
But this treatment provides the opportunity to minimise ongoing damage which persists several hours and even days afterwards.
Research team hoping to go to clinical trials
The WANRI team is now hoping to take the results to clinical trial and commercially develop the peptides.
“We are hopeful from our results so far that these peptides may be effective clinically,” Professor Meloni said.
Clinical Professor David Blacker, WANRI’s medical director and stroke physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, said the limited treatments currently available to sufferers make the findings compelling.
“These promising discoveries offer welcome news in the challenging field of stroke research,” Professor Blacker said.
“We need to see more investment in research like this as the prevalence of stroke within our community continues to rise.”
Professor Meloni said the WANRI findings both complement and differ from the Royal Melbourne Hospital new stroke treatment being trialled, which involves improved blood supply to the brain.
The research is published in the latest online version of The Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.
The National Stroke Foundation estimates the number of people having a stroke in Australia will rise from 50,000 a year to more than 130,000 by 2050.