Medication revealed to be effective in treating blood vessel abnormality in brain
Scientific research continues to find new treatments for illnesses that are currently incurable, and these medications may one day be available in a Canadian pharmacy - likely for a price cheaper than in the U.S.
Scientific research continues to find new treatments for illnesses that are currently incurable, and these medications may one day be available in a Canadian pharmacy - likely for a price cheaper than in the U.S. One example of such an illness is cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM), which causes tiny blood vessels in the brain to grow and leak. A team of researchers has discovered how the drug fasudil may be an effective treatment for this abnormality.
CCM occurs in one out of every 200 people, the researchers said. The only current treatment is surgery.
The scientists created a mouse model of CCM by genetically modifying mice to silence a gene known as CCM1. This biological change caused the mice to have unusually high levels of a cell signal called ROCK, and the researchers discovered that the same effect is true of humans who develop CCM.
Fasudil is the only available drug known to inhibit ROCK. It is used in Japan to treat cerebral vasospasm, but never advanced beyond clinical trials in the U.S.
After treating the genetically modified mice with fasudil, the researchers observed a decrease in the prevalence of lesions, as well as shrinkage of the lesions that did develop, as published in the journal Stroke.
If future studies verify these effects in humans, fasudil may be used not as a cure for CCM, but as a treatment that makes living with the condition possible, said researcher Issam Awad, MD.
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