Etanercept: The Miracle Drug

Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. There are approximately 795,000 strokes in the United States yearly, and of those, approximately 655,000 survive, many with serious disability. Strokes occur when there is a loss of blood to a part of the brain, resulting in oxygen deprivation, causing cell death and disabilities like paralysis or speech and language problems, for which rehabilitation is needed.

            Vincent Chen, an assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago, came in to talk about the use of brain and peripheral nerve stimulation to assist neurorehabilitation. He mentioned that after a stroke, the balance of inhibition is disrupted in the brain, and clinicians must decrease the excitability of the unaffected hemisphere to balance the brain. Chen and his colleagues concluded that electrical stimulation pulses could contribute to neuromodulation, leading to therapy for stroke patients. They determined that recovery is faster when electrical modulation targets specific regions. Unfortunately, Chen’s study was limited to rabbit subjects.

There has been another study in neurorehabilitation, however, with human subjects. There is evidence that stroke patients or patients with other traumatic and serious injuries to the brain have improved their state of paralysis or speech problems with a single dose of a drug called etanercept (brand name Enbrel), which targets inflammation in the brain. It works by targeting and neutralizing disease-causing levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which is a signaling molecule involved in stroke and other severe brain injuries. There have been many positive effects of this drug, and the improvement of the patient is almost immediate. This study is still in its’ initial stages, so clinicians do not know whether patients who receive this treatment will need another dose of the drug or if the effects are permanent. Even so, it is proving very effective in treating paralysis and speech and language problems in patients who have experienced serious brain injury or stroke.

           

Resources

Springer. "New Hope for Survivors of Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury." ScienceDaily.

            ScienceDaily, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

"The Internet Stroke Center." The Internet Stroke Center. An Independent Web Resource for

Information about Stroke Care and Research. N.p., 1997. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Ignatowski, Tracey A., Robert N. Spengler, Krishnan M. Dhandapani, Hedy Folkersma, Roger

F. Butterworth, and Edward Tobinick. "Perispinal Etanercept for Post-Stroke Neurological and Cognitive Dysfunction: Scientific Rationale and Current Evidence." CNS Drugs. Springer International Publishing, 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

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