Many more stroke patients could benefit from thrombolytic treatment (the use of drugs to break up or dissolve blood clots), but it needs to be administered as quickly as possible after the first signs of illness, according to new findings from the largest meta-analysis to date investigating the clot-busting drug alteplase. The study, which involved more than 6700 stroke patients, is published in The Lancet. The emergency treatment with alteplase markedly improves the chances of a good outcome when administered within 45 hours of onset of symptoms but, although still worthwhile, its benefit diminishes the later it is given. The findings show just how important it is for people with acute ischaemic stroke (in which blood flow to an area of the brain is blocked or reduced) to be identified quickly and treated by specialist staff in order to reduce the subsequent degree of disability. "Our results show that alteplase treatment is a very effective means of limiting the degree of disability in stroke patients", said study co-author and senior statistician Dr Jonathan Emberson, from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford in the UK. Dr Emberson and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of individual patient data from … Continue reading →

People treated with a blood clot dissolving drug within three hours of suffering a stroke have better and faster recovery, a new study published in The Lancet reveals. The international study, involving more than 6700 stroke patients, found that those who received the drug alteplase had a 75 per cent better outcome if they were treated within the first three hours of a stroke. However, the benefit rapidly declined if treatment was delayed by even a few hours. Study co-author Professor Richard Lindley from University of Sydney, said the study showed that treatment with alteplase significantly increased the odds of a good stroke outcome. "Alteplase is effective in dissolving blood clots in those who have suffered a stroke, and is particularly effective if it is administered within three hours. "Previously alteplase was deemed ineffective and too risky to treat stroke patients who were elderly, diabetic, or had suffered a severe stroke. Doctors were reluctant to use it and these patients were often excluded from treatment. "However, this study has found that alteplase is an effective emergency treatment for ischaemic stroke patients (strokes caused by blood clots) and should be available irrespective of age, severity, and clinical presentation. "Our data reveals … Continue reading →

Background Alteplase is effective for treatment of acute ischaemic stroke but debate continues about its use after longer times since stroke onset, in older patients, and among patients who have had the least or most severe strokes. We assessed the role of these factors in affecting good stroke outcome in patients given alteplase. We did a pre-specified meta-analysis of individual patient data from 6756 patients in nine randomised trials comparing alteplase with placebo or open control. We included all completed randomised phase 3 trials of intravenous alteplase for treatment of acute ischaemic stroke for which data were available. Retrospective checks confirmed that no eligible trials had been omitted. We defined a good stroke outcome as no significant disability at 36 months, defined by a modified Rankin Score of 0 or 1. Additional outcomes included symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (defined by type 2 parenchymal haemorrhage within 7 days and, separately, by the SITS-MOST definition of parenchymal type 2 haemorrhage within 36 h), fatal intracranial haemorrhage within 7 days, and 90-day mortality. Alteplase increased the odds of a good stroke outcome, with earlier treatment associated with bigger proportional benefit. Treatment within 30 h resulted in a good outcome for 259 (329%) of 787 … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 5-Aug-2014 Contact: Andrew Trehearne andrew.trehearne@ukbiobank.ac.uk 44-078-940-42600 The Lancet Many more stroke patients could benefit from thrombolytic treatment (the use of drugs to break up or dissolve blood clots), but it needs to be administered as quickly as possible after the first signs of illness, according to new findings from the largest meta-analysis to date investigating the clot-busting drug alteplase. The study, which involved more than 6700 stroke patients, is published in The Lancet. The emergency treatment with alteplase markedly improves the chances of a good outcome when administered within 4-5 hours of onset of symptoms but, although still worthwhile, its benefit diminishes the later it is given. The findings show just how important it is for people with acute ischaemic stroke (in which blood flow to an area of the brain is blocked or reduced) to be identified quickly and treated by specialist staff in order to reduce the subsequent degree of disability. "Our results show that alteplase treatment is a very effective means of limiting the degree of disability in stroke patients", said study co-author and senior statistician Dr Jonathan Emberson, from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford in the UK. Dr … Continue reading →

Hans Sautter Scientists around the world are struggling to get to grips with the loss of one of the brightest stars in stem-cell science. Yoshiki Sasai of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) in Kobe brought excitement and rigour to the field but died today, 5 August, aged 52. The reasons for Sasais apparent suicide are still not clear but a scandal swirling about two stem-cell papers published in Nature in January had wreaked havoc on his career. Dr Sasai was a rigorous and innovative scientist and his loss will be deeply felt, says Janet Rossant at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, a former head of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. His most important contributions to the stem-cell field came from his background in developmental biology. Sasais research spanned developmental biology, stem cells, organogenesis and tissue engineering. His success was built on his painstaking efforts to understand exactly which factors needed to be added or removed to cell cultures to guide embryonic stem cells as they differentiated to mature cell types, especially neuronal cells. He sees things that others dont see, Eddy De Robertis told Nature in a 2012 interview. De Robertis, a developmental … Continue reading →

The stem-cell research community reels after Yoshiki Sasai, a famous name in regenerative medicine, is found dead on August 5 Yoshiki Sasai. Credit: Nick Higgins Scientists around the world are struggling to get to grips with the loss of one of the brightest stars in stem-cell science. Yoshiki Sasai of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) in Kobe brought excitement and rigour to the field but died yesteday, August 5, aged 52. The reasons for Sasais apparent suicide are still not clear but a scandal swirling about two stem-cell papers published inNaturein January had wreaked havoc on his career. Dr. Sasai was a rigorous and innovative scientist and his loss will be deeply felt, saysJanet Rossantat the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, a former head of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. His most important contributions to the stem-cell field came from his background in developmental biology. Sasais research spanned developmental biology, stem cells, organogenesis and tissue engineering. His success was built on his painstaking efforts to understand exactly which factors needed to be added or removed to cell cultures to guide embryonic stem cells as they differentiated to mature cell types,especially neuronal cells. He sees … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 6-Aug-2014 Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair Putnam Valley, NY. (Aug. 6, 2014) Recent studies have shown that transplanting induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (iPS-NSCs) can promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents and non-human primates. However, a serious drawback to the transplantation of iPS-NSCs is the potential for tumor growth, or tumorogenesis, post-transplantation. In an effort to better understand this risk and find ways to prevent it, a team of Japanese researchers has completed a study in which they transplanted a human glioblastoma cell line into the intact spinal columns of laboratory mice that were either immunodeficient or immunocompetent and treated with or without immunosuppresant drugs. Bioluminescent imaging was used to track the transplanted cells as they were manipulated by immunorejection. The researchers found that the withdrawal of immunosuppressant drugs eliminated tumor growth and, in effect, created a 'safety lock' against tumor formation as an adverse outcome of cell transplantation. They also confirmed that withdrawal of immunosuppression led to rejection of tumors formed by transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural stem/progenitor cells (iPS-NP/SCs). Although the central nervous system has shown difficulty in … Continue reading →