Revisiting promising preclinical intracerebral hemorrhage studies to highlight repurposable drugs for translation

Abstract

Intracerebral hemorrhage is a devastating global health burden with limited treatment options and is responsible for 49% of 6.5 million annual stroke-related deaths comparable to ischemic stroke. Despite the impact of intracerebral hemorrhage, there are currently no effective treatments and so weaknesses in the translational pipeline must be addressed. There have been many preclinical studies in intracerebral hemorrhage models with positive outcomes for potential therapies in vivo, but beyond advancing the understanding of intracerebral hemorrhage pathology, there has been no translation toward successful clinical application. Multidisciplinary preclinical research, use of multiple models, and validation in human tissue are essential for effective translation. Repurposing of therapeutics for intracerebral hemorrhage may be the most promising strategy to help relieve the global health burden of intracerebral hemorrhage. Here, we have reviewed the existing literature to highlight repurposable drugs with successful outcomes in preclinical models of intracerebral hemorrhage that have realistic potential for development into the clinic for intracerebral hemorrhage.

Keywords: Anakinra; Intracerebral hemorrhage; cerebrovascular disease; deferoxamine; drug trials; inflammation; statins; translation.

Figure 1.

A diagrammatical representation of the necessary collaborative steps to translation of a medical therapeutic for ICH patients. ICH: intracerebral hemorrhage; BBB: blood–brain barrier; CNS: central nervous system; SAHA: suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid; IVIg: intravenous immunoglobulin.