Chemical Can Induce Nerve Growth after Stroke

An animal study has shown that inosine, a naturally occurring chemical, can induce axon growth within the brain and spinal cord, thereby improving motor function after a stroke.
The study was published in the June 25, 2002, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the study, rats treated with inosine had nearly normal paw-placing ability after 19 days, whereas untreated rats remained 50% below normal. The results of anatomical studies correlated with functional results. Inosine showed the ability to increase the capacity of nerve cells to make new connections to those brain areas that had lost their normal inputs because of a stroke. The inosine-stimulated increases were three to four times higher than in the rats not receiving inosine. There were no apparent side effects.

"The study shows that inosine induces a great deal of rewiring in the brain after stroke,” said Dr. Larry Denowitz, principal investigator and head of the laboratory at Children's Hospital (Boston, MA, USA), where much of the study was conducted. "This rewiring is apparently sufficient to promote substantial functional recovery.”

Inosine is being developed for the treatment of stroke and other central nervous system injuries by Boston Life Sciences, Inc. (BLSI, MA, USA). "Stroke has been a poorly understood and inadequately treated area of medicine,” said Dr. Marc Lanser, M.D., chief scientific officer of BLSI. "These data offer great hope that we may finally see a breakthrough in treatment that can repair the damage by stroke.”






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