Abstract
Brain ischemic stroke is among the leading causes of death and long-term disability. New treatments that alleviate brain cell damage until blood supply is restored are urgently required. The emerging focus of anti-stroke strategies has been on blood-brain-barrier permeable drugs that exhibit multiple sites of action. Here, we combine single-cell electrophysiology with live-cell imaging to find that β-Alanine (β-Ala) protects key physiological functions of brain cells that are exposed to acute stroke-mimicking conditions in ex vivo brain preparations. β-Ala exerts its neuroprotective action through several distinct pharmacological mechanisms, none of which alone could reproduce the neuroprotective effect. Since β-Ala crosses the blood-brain barrier and is part of a normal human diet, we suggest that it has a strong potential for acute stroke treatment and facilitation of recovery.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 747 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Cell Death & Disease |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 8 |
Early online date | 29 Aug 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 29 Aug 2022 |
Keywords
- Brain
- Brain Injuries/drug therapy
- Brain Ischemia/drug therapy
- Humans
- Neuroprotective Agents/pharmacology
- Stroke/drug therapy
- beta-Alanine/pharmacology