People treated with the drug minocycline within six to 24 hours after a stroke had significantly fewer disabilities, according to a study published in the October 2, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers say minocycline may be an alternative treatment for stroke because current treatments only work during the first few hours after the onset of symptoms, and many people don't get to the hospital in time to be treated. Minocycline is normally used to treat bacterial infections including pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections; acne; and infections of skin, genital, and urinary systems.
For the study, 152 men and women received either an oral dose of minocycline or placebo for five days following stroke. People who received minocycline were treated an average of 13 hours after stroke compared to 12 hours for the placebo group. Researchers followed both groups for three months.
The study found people treated with minocycline had significantly better outcomes than those treated with placebo. After three months, the minocycline group performed four times better than the placebo group on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, which measures vision, facial palsy, movement, and speaking ability. The minocycline group received a score of 1.6, which indicates little or no disability, compared to a score of 6.5 for the placebo group, which indicates a high end of mild disability.