Close up shot of a Vampire Bat
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As Halloween happened just last week, I wanted to write about one last spooky creature, vampire bats! While some vampire bats can cause disturbance to humans by attacking their livestock, researchers have discovered that vampire bats may actually be able to provide something useful in return.
Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association published an article written by Liberatore et al.. The article discusses an enzyme found in the vampire bat’s saliva which can help stroke patients. According to research, when a vampire bat feeds, their saliva contains an enzyme called desmoteplase and other anticoagulants that stops blood from clotting. This allows the blood to flow continuously so the bat can feed easily and quickly.
How can this help us?
What happens during an Isochemic Stroke
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When a person experiences a stroke, it is because blood flow to a part of the brain is stopped. If the brain does not receive any blood, it cannot get any oxygen which will then lead to brain cell damage. The specific type of strokes that researchers are hoping to utilize desmoteplase for are known as ischemic strokes. Desmoteplase can be used to dissolve the blood clot at the blocked artery allowing blood flow to resume.
Currently, the approved FDA-approved drug for treating blood clots contains tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). However, tPA can cause injury to the brain by damaging or killing nerve cells or by restricting blood flow. After countless experiments by Liberatore and Reddrop, results show that desmoteplase does not promote these injuries.
Which developmental stage is desmoteplase in?
Desmoteplase is being tested as two trials, DIAS-3 and DIAS-4 in phase III. They are determining if desmoteplase is a safe treatment for patients with acute ischaemic strokes by issuing the drug within 3-9 hours after experiencing stroke symptoms. So far, 400 participants per trial are being tested with doses of 90 μg/kg. Final collection results are expected to be taken in December 2012 for DIAS-3 and December 2013 for DIAS-4. More information can be read upon in these two links:
Hopefully, the results from these two trials will advance the field of stroke treatment and verify desmoteplase as safe for usage in the near future. Lastly, this is a video that briefly talks about the process of modifying desmoteplase to the updated version of the drug.
Note: The last portion of the clip talks about having the results by 2011, however this has been changed as seen by the data from the two links above.
Post by: Tiffany Ho
