Eukarion Antioxidant Drug Protects Against Stroke

US company Eukarion of Bedford, Massachusetts, has reported that itsantioxidant drug EUK-134 can limit the impact of a stroke in an animal model of the disease.

EUK-134 is a synthetic catalytic scavenger (SCS), a low-molecular weight synthetic compound based on manganese which is claimed to mimic the activity of two antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase and catalase, which are integral to the body's defence against reactive oxygen species, byproducts of metabolism. In stroke, impairment of the body's ability to counter these ROS is thought to contribute, at least in part, to the neurological damage.

In the animal experiments (which are published in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; January 1998), EUK-134 was compared with an earlier prototype, EUK-8, in terms of the ability to limit the neurological damage suffered by rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion. Both drugs were given three hours after the occlusion and limited tissue damage compared to controls, although EUK-134 was significantly more effective in this regard than EUK-8.