Treatment could offer hope for brain bleeding and stroke

A drug treatment, already approved for use in patients, could offer new hope for some patients with brain bleeding and strokes. New research, led by the University of Glasgow and published today in Human Molecular Genetics , has shown that the compound sodium phenyl butyric acid could be used to reduce brain bleeding which can cause strokes when it is caused by a defect in a gene called collagen IV. Mutations in these genes cause a genetic form of eye, kidney and vascular disease which affects the blood vessels in the brain and can cause brain bleeding, even in childhood. The researchers, which included collaborators from the Universities of Manchester and Edinburgh, studied mice that have a similar defect in the collagen IV gene and develop the same disease as patients. Using sodium phenyl butyric acid they were able to reduce brain bleeding. However, the treatment did not treat either the eye or kidney disease associated with these genetic defects. As a result, the researchers believe that for future treatments, patients with these mutations will need to be divided into groups based on their symptoms and medical history, and the mechanism that causes the disease.