ABSTRACT
Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability and ranks fth among all causes of mortality in the United States. The only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved treatment for acute ischemic stroke is intravenous thrombolysis using tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) within 3 hours from symptom onset. However, tPA has limited applicability largely due to a short therapeutic time window. Such limitations have prompted researchers to investigate neuroprotective agents that could potentially minimize neuronal injury from stroke and perhaps prolong therapeutic time windows for currently approved treatments. To date, none of these investigational agents have been effective in pivotal phase III clinical trials. Given the tremendous socioeconomic burden from stroke, it is critical to expand research to identify novel therapeutic strategies in wider time windows that could promote brain repair and improve outcome. Cellular therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic modality with positive results from various basic science studies in animal models of ischemic stroke.
