title: Novel therapies for acute ischemic stroke.
abstract: Acute ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and chronic disability in the western world. Yet, despite the enormous socioeconomic burden that it imposes, therapies to combat AIS are not widely available. Moreover, revascularization of the ischemic tissue with tissue plasminogen activator, the only FDA-approved therapy for AIS, is hampered by a very narrow therapeutic time window and is only used in a minority of patients. Cerebral ischemia leads to brain damage caused by several pathologic mechanisms that can potentially be blocked by neuroprotective drugs that aim to salvage the ischemic penumbra. However, despite numerous clinical trials, no single drug candidate has proved efficacious in AIS. The current situation calls for novel therapeutic strategies to be used in acute ischemic stroke. This review surveys some of these novel and promising cutting edge therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Ginges Center for Neurogenetics, Scheinberg Cerebrovascular Research Laboratory, Hadassah University Hospital, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. leker@cc.huji.ac.il
authors.forename: Ronen R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Leker
authors.forename: Roni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eichel
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rafaeli
authors.forename: Tamir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ben-Hur
mesh_terms: D001557:Benzenesulfonates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000187:drug effects; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000379:methods*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010960:Plasminogen Activators / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D020521:Stroke / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D059470:Tetraspanins; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001557:Benzenesulfonates; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C505521:TSPAN33 protein, human; D059470:Tetraspanins; C069588:salivary plasminogen activator alpha 1, Desmodus rotundus; C120851:disufenton sodium; D010960:Plasminogen Activators; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator