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The brain has recuperative powers that were unsuspected only a few years ago. The latest data come from a partially industry-supported study conducted in Boston and Alberta, Canada. Preliminary studies by this research group had shown that the simple, ubiquitous, purine nucleoside inosine encouraged neuronal growth in vitro. Now, these researchers evaluated whether inosine induced axon growth in vivo.
The team surgically induced strokes in rats, and, then, randomized the rats to receive infusions of either inosine or saline. Compared with saline, inosine infusions did nothing to reduce the mean amount of tissue injured by the stroke. However, inosine did dramatically increase average axon growth of neurons distant from the stroke; such axons…