Neuroprotectant Drug as Adjunctive Therapy for Acute Ischemic Stroke

DL-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP), a synthesized compound originally identified in Chinese celery seeds, was approved by the China Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke in 2002 but is not FDA-approved in the U.S. Preclinical data and limited randomized trials have suggested that that NBP could have pleotropic neuroprotective effects, although the specific mechanism of action is unknown.

The current trial, funded by the Chinese government and Shijiazhuang Pharma Group, was designed to evaluate NBP as an adjunctive treatment to thrombolysis and thrombectomy. Of 1236 patients screened at 59 centers in China over nearly 4 years, 1216 adults with acute ischemic stroke and an initial National Institutes of Health Stroke…