For the first time, scientists have reversed memory and learning deficits in mice following TBI. In a study published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the UCSF found that an experimental drug can restore normal function in mice following TBI. In previous trials where drugs proved effective in mice, treatments were administered right after the injury, according to researchers. But diagnosis and treatment within a few hours does not always occur with humans. The new successful treatment, which was administered to the mice two to four weeks after their injury, is “more clinically tractable.”
Because it is a small molecule and can cross the blood-brain barrier, the drug would likely not have to be injected directly into the brain. And the fact that treatment with ISRIB is still effective weeks after injury gives it an advantage over drugs that were used in mouse models immediately following the trauma.