Cedars-Sinai to Study Positive Role of Normal Protein in Ischemic Stroke

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Neurology a four-year, $1.4 million grant to study an unexpected recent discovery: After ischemic stroke — which is caused by a clogged artery, without bleeding into the brain — a normal protein that plays a positive role in blood clotting escapes intact arteries and damages healthy brain cells.

“We knew thrombin leaked out during hemorrhagic strokes — those in which an artery ruptures — and we knew that in large amounts it killed brain cells,” said Patrick D. Lyden, MD, chair of the Department of Neurology, and the Carmen and Louis Warschaw Chair in Neurology at Cedars-Sinai. “But we decided to see if there was thrombin after ischemic stroke, and, surprisingly, there was a lot, and it was causing major damage to brain cells. When we injected a drug that counters the effects of thrombin, stroke symptoms got better.” For more information, click here to read the full release.