Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a drug that seems to protect mice and rats from nerve degeneration caused by chemotherapy drugs, HIV and diabetes. Almost 20 million Americans suffer from nerve damage caused by chronic disease, infection or exposure to toxic chemicals, like the ones used to treat cancer. Nerve damage can cause numbness, tingling, pain and trouble walking.
Although pain relievers can provide some relief, according to Ahmet Hoke, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, there aren't any treatments on the market that prevent further nerve damage or repair injured nerves. To find neuroprotective drugs, Hoke's research team treated nerve cells grown in a dish with Taxol, a chemotherapy drug that causes nerve damage, also known as neuropathy, and one of 2,000 different compounds from a collection that was put together by a consortium funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to find treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
By looking in a microscope for healthy nerve cells — ones without damaged, shriveled appendages — in the presence of Taxol, they identified the protective drug ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin effectively prevented 70 percent of the nerve damage in mice treated with Taxol, as well as protected the nerves in diabetic rats and in the mouse model of HIV.
"Ethoxyquin or other drugs developed based on ethoxyquin's molecular structure will be important for developing neuroprotective therapies — a hugely unmet clinical need," says Hoke. He cautions that safety studies still need to be carried out before clinical trials are considered. While investigating how ethoxyquin works, the researchers found the drug binds to a protein involved in the cell's stress response system. Further elucidation of ethoxyquin's method of action may help identify other targets for neuropathy treatment.
Poster#: 354.19/T6, Hall F-J, Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, 9-10 a.m. CSTAuthors: J. Zhu, W. Chen, C. Zhou, N. Reed, A. Hoke
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Poster#: 354.29/T16, Hall F-J, Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. CSTAuthors: M. Ray, N. Reed, J. Zhu, A. Hoke