From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 11 2003 - 13:42:07 MDT
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/04/030411070831.htm
Experimental 'Coffee Cocktail' Tested As Way To Limit Stroke Damage
DALLAS, April 11 – An experimental drug delivering the potency of two cups of
strong coffee and a mixed drink has been shown to limit stroke-induced brain
damage in animals. Now, this agent has been demonstrated to be safe in a
small pilot study of ischemic stroke patients reported in today’s rapid
access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
This safety study is a crucial prelude to testing the effectiveness of the
combination in patients. In previous studies in rats, the size of brain
damage was reduced up to 80 percent when a combination of caffeine and
ethanol, called caffeinol, was administered within three hours after an
artery supplying blood to the brain was blocked (ischemic stroke).
Those studies “demonstrated that the combination of caffeine and ethanol may
reduce the amount of damage after stroke. Neither caffeine or alcohol offered
protection alone, but the combination was protective,” says senior author
James C. Grotta, M.D., professor of neurology and director of the stroke
program, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas.
In this study, Grotta and colleagues sought to determine the safety and
tolerability of caffeinol in humans.
Researchers administered the combination to 23 stroke patients (16 women,
average age 71). The patients represented a diverse racial mix: nine white,
nine black, four Hispanic and one Asian.
“Our goal was to see if we could safely achieve the same blood levels of
caffeinol that we achieved in our animal studies,” he says. “We discovered
that we could use even lower doses than we used in the animal studies and
achieve the blood levels that were neuroprotective in animals.”
Moreover caffeinol, which is given by infusion, can be safely administered to
patients who are also receiving clot-busting treatment with tissue
plasminogen activator (tPA). Eight patients received both caffeinol and tPA.
One patient with a very severe stroke who received caffeinol and tPA suffered
an intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding within the brain), but Grotta says an
independent safety officer concluded it was not related to caffeinol.
The first set of four patients were given low-dose caffeinol (caffeine 6
milligrams per kilogram plus ethanol 0.2 grams per kilogram). That dose did
not achieve the target blood level, so the dose was increased (8 mg/kg
caffeine and 0.4 g/kg ethanol) in the next group of 19 patients. That
achieved target blood levels, he says. However, Grotta cautioned that the
ethanol level may need further adjustment because a patient with a history of
heart disease developed reversible heart failure at that dose level. It is
unclear how caffeinol works to protect the brain, but it is being studied.
A randomized, placebo-controlled trial is needed to determine the
neuroprotective effect of this combination. In addition, Grotta plans a study
that will combine caffeinol with thermo-cooling of stroke patients. Other
studies have suggested that cooling the brain can limit stroke damage, and
Grotta says that combining cooling and caffeinol may extend that protection.
Co-authors are Paisith Piriyawat, M.D.; W. Scott Burgin, M.D.; Lise A.
Labiche, M.D.; and Jaroslaw A. Aronowski, Ph.D
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Apr 11 2003 - 13:49:21 MDT