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Biotech / Medical : Pharmos (PARS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: leigh aulper who wrote (1192)	10/4/2001 4:29:07 PM
From: keokalani'nui	Respond to of 1386

Natural Compound May Reduce Brain Trauma Damage By Melissa Schorr NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A compound the brain manufactures in response to trauma may be useful as a treatment for complications resulting from brain injury, Israeli researchers report. ``We believe that this compound, that the brain itself produces, may serve as a neuroprotectant agent,'' lead author Esther Shohami, a professor in the School of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, told Reuters Health. The compound, known as 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG), is a cannabinoid, a substance the body produces with a similar structure to chemicals found in the cannabis plant, the source of marijuana. In research published in the October 4th issue of Nature, the investigators found 2-AG at 10 times the normal level in the brains of mice 4 hours after a traumatic injury. The researchers theorize that the compound somehow helps prevent some of the secondary complications associated with brain injury, possibly by reducing the inflammatory response, slowing the production of a toxic brain chemical or boosting the blood supply to the brain immediately after the injury. However, the natural amounts the brain cells produce following trauma probably do not reach high enough levels to be effective, Shohami noted. To investigate the effects of the compound, the researchers synthesized 2-AG and injected it an hour after brain injury had been induced in mice. The mice were evaluated 1, 4 and 7 days after injury. ``We found a tremendous improvement in the recovery of the mice,'' Shohami said, noting that there was less excess fluid causing swelling in the brain, better recovery of motor function, and fewer dead brain cells and brain tissue. However, the drug's protection against neurological damage was short-lived, with significant effects lasting only a day after treatment. Shohami said she hopes to eventually investigate the compound on humans who have suffered brain injuries and to extend the timeframe in which the substance could be offered. ``Its administration, as a single injection, should be considered as a novel therapeutic modality,'' she said. ``Since the benefit was achieved by a single administration, I do not expect serious side-effects or toxicity to be a major problem.'' SOURCE: Nature 2001;413:527-531.

To: leigh aulper who wrote (1192)	11/29/2001 10:47:23 AM
From: leigh aulper	Respond to of 1386

Israel's Pharmos brain injury drug tests start TEL AVIV, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Israeli pharmaceutical company Pharmos Corp (NasdaqSC:PARS - news) said on Thursday a drug for the treatment of severe brain injury that mimics marijuana's active ingredient has recently started a two-year trial in six European countries. Tests on Dexanabinol, which copies the therapeutic element of marijuana but does not include its hallucinogenic effects, will also start in the United States next year, the company said. The other countries testing the drug are Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy with a total of around 1,000 patients. ``Until now there has been no treatment available for patients suffering from a severe brain injury of the kind often sustained during a traffic accident,'' Pharmos chairman Haim Aviv told Reuters. ``In a previous study, the drug was credited with saving the lives of patients who had suffered injuries so serious that in some cases they were in a coma for more than a week,'' Aviv added. Aviv said Pharmos eventually hopes to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval for the drug which would make Dexanabinol the first traumatic brain injury product in a market with an estimated value of $1 billion.