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New Data Reinforces Advantage of Albumin Over Saline in Animal Stroke Treatment
Last August, FFF reported on a new study that found human albumin administration was associated with a decreased incidence of symptomatic vasospasm and a trend toward reduced mortality in a trial of 84 subjects with subarachnoid hemorrhage (BioSupply Trends, August 2, 2004).1
This month, in a new report in Stroke, investigators at the University of Miami have documented that albumin therapy is neuroprotective in an animal model of intracerebral hemorrhage.
One hour after an acute intracortical hematoma was produced in anesthetized rats, separate animal groups were treated either with 25% human albumin (1.25 g/kg) or with intravenous saline. Neurobehavior was quantified over the next 2 to 7 days, and damage to the blood-brain barrier was assessed.
According to the study, "albumin-treated rats showed improved neuroscores relative to saline-treated animals beginning within hours of treatment and persisting throughout the 7-day survival period. At 3 and 7 days, mean total neuroscores of the albumin group were 38% to 47% lower than in saline-treated animals."
In albumin-treated animals, extravasation of Evans blue stain proximal to the hematoma was dramatically reduced (-49%, p<0.05) in relation to the saline-treated animals, providing direct anatomic evidence that albumin protected against damage to the blood-brain barrier. Moreover, hematoma volume and brain swelling were not affected by albumin administration.
The study concluded, "prompt albumin therapy improves neurological function and blood-brain barrier integrity after acute intracortical hematoma. These observations have important potential clinical implications."
Citation: Belayev L, Saul I, Busto R, et al. Albumin treatment reduces neurological deficit and protects blood-brain barrier integrity after acute intracortical hematoma in the rat. Stroke 2005 Feb; 36(2): 326-31.
Click here to access the abstract on PubMed.
1 Suarez JI, Shannon L et al. Effect of human albumin administration on clinical outcome and hospital cost in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.
J Neurosurg 2004; 100:585-90.
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