About the project
The incidence of stroke is predicted to increase with the aging population. A large fraction of these are caused by a clot in the brain and are called ischemic stroke (87%) and the rest (13%) are due to rupture of brain vessels and are called hemorrhagic stroke.
The current pharmacological treatment for ischemic stroke is tPA but this has many shortcomings:
- There is a short time window in which tPA can be applied (< 4.5 h) after which the clot properties change and tPA is not effective.
- tPA causes severe bleeding in the brain of 2-5% of the patients which receive this drug (hemorrhagic transformation).
- tPA is ineffective against clots in larger vessels and these are treated with surgery to remove the clot.
- Only 3-10 % of patients receive tPA treatment and only some actually benefit from it.
- Surgical removal of the clots is becoming an increasingly viable option but this is only possible if clots are in large vessels in some parts of the brain. However, this operation can only be performed in specialized centers.
Treatment of ischemic stroke is one of the most intensively researched topics with many promising developments in designing new generation of thrombolytic, neuroprotective and neuroregenerative factors as well as surgical techniques.
We have discovered a factor that helps to dissolve clots faster and protects the brain in stroke.
Outcomes
In an ageing population the incremental impact of diseases such as stroke will increase. This project addresses issues related to the treatment of stroke patients in the acute situation.
The current treatments are not satisfactory and need significant improvement. We have demonstrated that a circulating blood protease, Factor FVII Activating Protease (FSAP) speeds up lysis of blood clots by tPA in vitro and has neuroprotective effects on cultured brain cells. Thus, FSAP represents a novel treatment and our ambition is to develop this concept further.
To consolidate this idea the influence of FSAP on stroke is being investigated in terms of the molecular mechanisms of action in animal models in vivo as well as at a biochemical level.
Financing
NFR: 2016-2020
Cooperation
Stiftelsen Norsk Luftambulanse (SNLA)