Koji Abe
Professor and Chairman of Neurology at Okayama University Medical School in Japan
Title: Neuroprotective therapy with antioxidative drugs and supplements
Biography
Biography: Koji Abe
Abstract
Neuroprotection is essential for potential therapy not only in acute stage of stroke but also in chronic progressive neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Free radical scavenger can be such a neuroprotective candidate with inhibiting death signals and potentiating survival signals under cerebral ischemia and even neurodegenerative cellular processes. Edaravone is one such free radical scavenger, which is the first clinical drug for neuroprotection in the world and has been used from 2001 in most ischemic stroke patients in Japan. A recent multicenter prospective double-blind placebo-control clinical trial with edaravone for ALS patients conducted in Japan showed a positive effect for delaying the clinical score (ALSFRS-R) during the course of examination (24 weeks). Serious or critical adverse effect was not noted in this clinical trial. Of particular was that this clinical benefit of edaravone was shown as an add-on therapy after anti-glutamatergic riluzole. These data strongly suggest a potential underlying mechanism of oxidative stress in ALS and a clinical delay by a free radical scavenger. Antioxidative supplements are also important choices to prevent or even treat neurological disorders such as ischemic stroke and dementia. Many basic and clinical studies suggest that antioxidative supplements such as Tocovid® (mainly tocotrienol) and TwendeeX® (coenzyme Q+multivitamin) may be effective to ameliorate acute ischemic stroke, chronic cerebral white matter damage, and Alzheimer’s dementia.