title: Developing drug strategies for the neuroprotective treatment of acute ischemic stroke.
abstract: Developing new treatment strategies for acute ischemic stroke in the last twenty years has offered some important successes, but also several failures. Most trials of neuroprotective therapies have been uniformly negative to date. Recent research has reported how excitatory amino acids act as the major excitatory neurotransmitters in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Furthermore, other therapeutic targets such as free radical scavenger strategies and the anti-inflammatory neuroprotective strategy have been evaluated with conflicting data in animal models and human subjects with acute ischemic stroke. Whereas promising combinations of neuroprotection and neurorecovery, such as citicoline, albumin and cerebrolysin have been tested with findings worthy of further evaluation in larger randomized clinical trials. Understanding the complexities of the ischemic cascade is essential to developing pharmacological targets for acute ischemic stroke in neuroprotective or flow restoration therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: a Internal Medicine and Cardio-Angiology Ward, Department of Biomedicine and Internal Medicine, Di.Bi. M.I.S , University of Palermo , Palermo , Italy.
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tuttolomondo
authors.affiliation: a Internal Medicine and Cardio-Angiology Ward, Department of Biomedicine and Internal Medicine, Di.Bi. M.I.S , University of Palermo , Palermo , Italy.|b Emergency Care Unit , Fondazione Istituto S. Raffaele/Giglio of Cefalù , Cefalù , Italy.
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pecoraro
authors.affiliation: c Neurology Ward, Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience , University of Palermo , Palermo , Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arnao
authors.affiliation: d Neurosurgery Ward, Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience , University of Palermo , Palermo , Italy.
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maugeri
authors.affiliation: d Neurosurgery Ward, Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neuroscience , University of Palermo , Palermo , Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico Gerardo
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Iacopino
authors.affiliation: a Internal Medicine and Cardio-Angiology Ward, Department of Biomedicine and Internal Medicine, Di.Bi. M.I.S , University of Palermo , Palermo , Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020521:Stroke / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents
keywords: brain ischemia; drug; neuroprotection; neurorecovery; stroke