This sounds like another step in the right direction:
Transplant drugs may help nerve repair
Release at 5 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Drugs used to prevent transplant
patients from rejecting their new organs may also have potential
to repair nerve cell damage and treat neurodegenerative
diseases, scientists said Sunday.
In the April edition of Nature Medicine, a team from Johns
Hopkins University and Guilford Pharmaceuticals (GLFD.O) in
Baltimore reported that these immunosuppressive drugs stimulated
nerve cell growth in laboratory cultures.
The team, led by Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Dr. Solomon
Snyder, designed chemicals that were structurally similar to
immunosuppressive drugs like cyclosporin A. Those chemicals
stimulated nerve cells without affecting the immune system.
In animal tests, the chemicals were able to stimulate nerve
recovery and function, for instance, by promoting some healing
of a crushed sciatic nerve. The compounds have not been tested
in humans, but scientists hope they can lead to new ways of
treating neurodegenerative diseases.
``The striking potency of these agents, their
bioavailability and the disassociation of neurotrophic from
immunosuppressant actions argue for their therapeutic relevance
in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,'' the scientists
wrote in the journal.
^REUTER@
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