E-Selectin Nasal Spray to Prevent Stroke Recurrence

In the United States, stroke is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability. Despite the success of recent clinical trials of antithrombotic drugs for the secondary prevention of stroke, annually about 10% of patients with recent cerebrovascular accidents have recurrent strokes. The development of new treatment strategies for the secondary prevention of stroke is an important issue for modern medicine. There is increasing evidence that inflammation at the sites of endothelial activation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of stroke. Control of molecular inflammation at the sites of endothelial activation can be achieved by induction of mucosal tolerance. The induction of mucosal tolerance with repeated, low-dose, intranasal administration of antigen causes a shift of immune response from proinflammatory T(H)1 type to anti-inflammatory T(H)2 type at the sites of inflammation. E-selectin is an adhesion molecule expressed only on activated endothelium in response to proinflammatory cytokines. The major goal of proposed study is to test whether repeated administration of low-dose, intranasal E-selectin can induce mucosal tolerance to this compound causing a shift of immune response from T(H)1 to T(H)2 type in patients with recent stroke or TIA, and secondly to evaluate the safety and tolerability of this strategy for the secondary prevention of stroke.