Improving stroke care and innovation

Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States experiences a stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and death, prompting researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine to explore new therapies for stroke recovery. Current clinical approaches primarily focus on restoring blood flow to the brain, but this can also lead to secondary brain injury, inflammation, and long-term disability.

In a preclinical study published in Neurotherapeutics, Northwestern scientists developed an injectable, nanomaterial-based therapy that potentially limits these secondary injuries and supports recovery. The therapy, which successfully crosses the blood-brain barrier, significantly reduced brain damage in a mouse model of ischemic stroke and showed no signs of side effects or organ toxicity.

The lead author, Ayush Batra, an associate professor in Neurology, emphasized that any treatment preventing neuronal injury and promoting recovery would be highly valuable, but such a therapy does not currently exist. The research, conducted in collaboration with Samuel Stupp, a professor in Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering, builds upon Stupp's earlier work on supramolecular therapeutic peptides (STPs), which have shown promise in reversing paralysis and repairing tissue after spinal cord injury.

The new injectable therapy, administered systemically without invasive procedures, could potentially benefit stroke patients and be applied to other neurological conditions like traumatic brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. While the study's findings are promising, further research is needed to determine if the therapy can lead to long-term functional recovery, particularly in addressing cognitive decline in stroke survivors.