Neuroprotection: Where to now?

Abstract

Neuroprotection is an attractive potential therapy for acute ischemic stroke and is based on the concept of the ischemic cascade. However, therapeutic use of neuroprotectants in human stroke has proved more difficult than initially realized. The turning point was the finding that an apparently ideal neuroprotectant, NXY-059, was not neuroprotective in human stroke following a number of well-conducted clinical trials. In spite of these difficulties, research in neuroprotection should continue but in a greatly modified form. A number of important issues need to be addressed, ranging from the quality of experimental studies through to the demonstration of compounds reaching the target ischemic ..