Brain : a journal of neurology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Results of a phase II placebo-controlled randomized trial of minocycline in acute spinal cord injury.
Preclinical studies have attributed neuroprotective properties to the antibiotic minocycline. Animal studies and early clinical trials support its use in several neurological diseases. In animal spinal cord injury models, minocycline improved neurological and histological outcomes, reduced neuronal and oligodendroglial apoptosis, decreased microglial activation and reduced inflammation. ⋯ The minocycline regimen established in this study proved feasible, safe and was associated with a tendency towards improvement across several outcome measures. Although this study does not establish the efficacy of minocycline in spinal cord injury the findings are encouraging and warrant further investigation in a multi-centre phase III trial. ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00559494.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Delayed treatment with chondroitinase ABC promotes sensorimotor recovery and plasticity after stroke in aged rats.
Stroke is the dominant cause of sensorimotor disability that primarily affects the elderly. We now show that neuroplasticity and functional recovery after stroke is constrained by inhibitory chondroitin sulphates. In two blinded, randomized preclinical trials, degradation of chondroitin sulphate using chondroitinase ABC reactivated neuroplasticity and promoted sensorimotor recovery after stroke in elderly rats. ⋯ Anterograde and retrograde tracing showed that chondroitinase ABC also induced sprouting of the contralesional corticospinal tract in the aged treated hemicord. Chondroitinase ABC did not neuroprotect the peri-infarct region. We show for the first time delayed chondroitinase ABC treatment promotes neuroanatomical and functional recovery after focal ischaemic stroke in an elderly nervous system.