(FierceBiotech) – An international team led by scientists at Aston University in the United Kingdom may have found a new use for the old antipsychotic trifluoperazine, a conventional schizophrenia treatment.
By changing the behavior of tiny protein pores in our cells called aquaporin-4 (AQP4), trifluoperazine (TFP) could stop the influx of water in the central nervous system that contributes to swelling of the brain or spinal cord after traumatic injuries or stroke, the team described in a new study published in Cell.
A single dose of TFP helped injured rats recover sensory and motor functions, the researchers showed. They argued that TFP represents a promising agent to treat brain and spinal cord injuries and that the findings could guide the development of new drugs for CNS edema. CONTINUE