Lead researcher Dr. David Hess, chairman of the Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine said that an old drug known as minocycline can reduce stroke damage in more ways inhibiting white blood cells and enzymes that, at least acute, can destroy brain tissue and blood vessels.

The antibiotic may also reduce the suicide cell in the minutes and hours after a stroke, which allows more cells to recover.

“It ‘a safe drug that is easy to give and tolerate, that gets in the brain well, and may reduce bleeding, the main side effect of tPA. We think it will hit smaller and better patient outcomes,” said Dr Hess.

TPA drugs is the only FDA-approved drug therapy for strokes. The team conducting a clinical trial that will study the drug in 60 patients with stroke in Georgia, Kentucky and Oregon say they consider the antibiotic will be a safe, effective adjunctive therapy for tPA, the only FDA-approved drug therapy for strokes.

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