Spin Trap Agents: A New Approach to Stroke Therapy

Thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) has proved to be beneficial for acute stroke management, even though side effects such as increased hemorrhage incidence occur frequently. In view of this, recent studies have attempted to identify new therapeutics that might be neuroprotective or attenuate tPA-induced hemorrhaging. Newly developed spin trap agents have been proposed as potential candidates for stroke therapy because of their free-radical scavenging and neuroprotective capabilities. Despite the diversity of pharmacological properties exhibited by nitrone free radical spin traps, results from preclinical studies are encouraging. Moreover, combination therapy with these agents and tPA appears to circumvent the high risk of hemorrhaging with tPA, increase the therapeutic window for tPA and may provide an effective treatment for stroke. (c) 2002 Prous Science. All rights reserved.