Another pro Antidepressant headline

May 24, 2004

This is an insane headline for this story.

" Antidepressant Could Help Reverse Paralysis

Drug Boosts Cell Growth, Protects Cells in Rats With Spinal Cord

Injury "

What the story tells us is not that this new antidepressant (Rolipram)

is some miracle drug which makes the blind see and the lame walk, it

suppresses the immune system and allows grafted spinal cords to heal

faster when used with another drug. Great. An antidepressant that

suppresses the immune system. That makes sense.

News outlets which printed this story had headlines which focused on

the paralysis, not the " antidepressant " . WebMD's bias??

Original page:

http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/87/99547.htm

Antidepressant Could Help Reverse Paralysis

Drug Boosts Cell Growth, Protects Cells in Rats With Spinal Cord

Injury

WebMD Medical News

Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson, MD

on Monday, May 24, 2004

May 24, 2004 -- An experimental antidepressant drug is showing promise

as a pioneering treatment for spinal cord injury and paralysis, a new

study shows.

In a study involving rats, researchers found that the drug rolipram

helps boost the inner workings of nerve cells. This boost may help

bridge the signaling problems between nerve cells that occur after

spinal cord injury, writes lead researcher Damien D. Pearse, PhD, with

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami School

of Medicine.

His study appears in the June issue of Nature Medicine.

Spinal cord injury as been the subject of numerous research projects

over the past two decades. With other types of nerve injuries -- like

injured nerves in a leg -- the nerves may heal themselves. However,

that does not happen with the spinal cord. Researchers have been

trying to encourage nerve fibers to grow, to repair damage from spinal

cord injury.

One drug is available for limiting the extent of spinal cord damage

directly after spinal cord injury. The drug, methylprednisolone, must

be given within hours of an injury, and experts have debated its

usefulness. Other drugs are aimed at minimizing spinal damage

following accidents. Other researchers are working to reduce the

immune system response to spinal injury that contributes to paralysis.

Rolipram is a new type of antidepressant drug not available in the U.

S. In addition to its antidepressant effects, it appears to be able to

suppress immune system function.

Pearse's study involved grafting healthy nerve cells to the injured

area while also giving the rats a combination treatment of rolipram

and another molecule called cyclic AMP, which aids cell production in

damaged areas.

The spine-injured rats showed great progress -- 70% improvement in

walking ability after receiving the combination, reports Pearse. The

combination treatment helped protect nerve fibers from dying and

promoted new growth of fibers into and beyond the injured area.

" The amount of functional recovery reported after the combination

strategy described in this paper is quite impressive, " says Naomi

Kleitman, PhD, a program director for spinal cord research with the

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a branch of

the NIH.

The report helps build on other research also hailed as " promising, "

says Kleitman in a news release.

This newest finding " opens up new possibilities for treatment " for

people with spinal cord injury, says co-researcher Bartlett

Bunge, PhD, also with The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, in a news

release.

SOURCES: Pearse, D. Nature Medicine, June 2004. WebMD Medical News:

" Building a Bridge to Reverse Paralysis. "

May 24, 2004