Abstract:

A stroke occurs as a result of a disturbance or interruption of cerebral blood flow, significantly reducing the supply of oxygen and glucose to the neural tissue. Consequently, several cell death mechanisms (secondary lesion mechanisms) such as necrosis, excitotoxicity, free radical production and inflammation are trigerred. Over the last couple of decades, a variety of drugs with thrombolytic, neuroprotective, and restorative properties have been studied. However, the results of these studies appear to be limited. Thereby, there is not an entirely effective treatment for the reduction of neural damage. As of today, the first-line treatment for stroke is tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). When administered, its thrombolytic properties restore blood flow. Unfortunately; the therapeutic time window for tPA is very short, and its beneficial effects only appear if it is applied in less than 4.5 hours after an ischemic event. Innovative theurapeutic options are currently being developed in order to restore affected neuronal circuits following a cerebral ischemic event. Some of these innovative therapeutic approaches are based on stem cell transplantation and/or induction of neurogenesis. Cop-1 is an immunomodulatory drug already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of MS, implying that the safety of the drug has been validated. As a minimally invasive approach for treating neurological diseases involving an inflammatory response, Cop-1 has the ability to modulate inflammation and increase local neurotrophic factor production. Preliminary data has led us to believe that active immunization with Cop-1 enhances functional recovery by inducing neuroprotection and neurorestoration. These beneficial effects are achieved by avoiding autoimmune disease, local toxicity and by increasing the levels of neurotrophic factors. As an FDA-approved treatment, Cop-1 could easily be developed for treatment of clinical cerebrovascular diseases or cognitive disorders, with the objective of decreasing mortality and improving the quality of life of the patient. Therapy with Cop-1 represents a promising approach that should be explored in order to optimize the therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases in the clinical field.