From the ArcaMax Publishing, Science & Technology Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/technology/s-368792-201473
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they have
developed an injectable treatment for severe brain injuries that are
due to blunt force trauma.
Purdue University researchers Andrew Koob and Richard Borgens said
they discovered such an injury can be reduced by application of a
simple polymer --polyethylene glycol, or PEG -- mixed in sterile water
and injected into the blood stream.
Koob and Borgens performed experiments in rats that showed PEG was
effective in limiting damage if administered within four hours after
the head injury. However, if treatment was delayed for a further two
hours, the beneficial effects were lost.
"These data suggest that PEG may be clinically useful to victims of
traumatic brain injury if delivered as rapidly as possible after an
injury," said Borgens. "Such a treatment could feasibly be carried out
at the scene of an accident where PEG could be delivered as a
component of IV fluids, thus reducing long term brain injury."
The study is reported in the Journal of Biological Engineering.