Abstract:

Recent advancements in recanalizing therapies, i.e., the combination of thrombolytic drugs with interventional thrombectomy, have considerably improved neurological outcome in ischemic stroke patients. Despite this progress, the large majority of stroke patients still exhibit neurological deficits in the long run, and ischemic stroke continues to be the most frequent cause of long-term disability. Hence, there is an unmet need for therapies that allow enhancing neurological recovery and brain plasticity in the post-acute stroke phase. Preclinical studies, e.g., delivering growth factors or neural precursor cells (NPC), have shown that brain plasticity can be successfully stimulated in the post-acute stroke phase, resulting in functional neurological improvements. These findings raised the question whether it is possible to promote neurological recovery and brain plasticity in stroke patients.