Koji Abe
Okayama University, Japan
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Neurol Neurophysiol
Neuroprotection is essential for potential therapy not only in acute stage of stroke but also in chronic progressive
neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinsonâ??s disease (PD), and Alzheimerâ??s disease (AD). Free radical
scavenger can be such a neuroprotective candidate with inhibiting death signals and potentiating survival signals
under cerebral ischemia and even neurodegenerative cellular processes. Edaravone is one such free radical scavenger,
which is the first clinical drug for neuroprotection in the world and has been used from 2001 in most ischemic
stroke patients in Japan. A recent multicenter prospective double-blind placebo-control clinical trial with edaravone
for ALS patients conducted in Japan showed a positive effect for delaying the clinical score (ALSFRS-R) during the
course of examination (24 weeks). Serious or critical adverse effect was not noted in this clinical trial. Of particular
was that this clinical benefit of edaravone was shown as an add-on therapy after anti-glutamatergic riluzole. These
data strongly suggest a potential underlying mechanism of oxidative stress in ALS and a clinical delay by a free radical
scavenger. Antioxidative supplements are also important choices to prevent or even treat neurological disorders such
as ischemic stroke and dementia. Many basic and clinical studies suggest that antioxidative supplements such as
Tocovid® (mainly tocotrienol) and TwendeeX® (coenzyme Q+multivitamin) may be effective to ameliorate acute
ischemic stroke, chronic cerebral white matter damage, and Alzheimer’s dementia.
Recent Publications:
1. Abe K et al., (1988) Strong attenuation of ischemic and postischemic brain edema in rats by a novel free radical
scavenger. Stroke 19: 480-485.
2. Abe K et al., (2017) Safety and efficacy of edaravone in well-defined patients with ALS: a randomized, doubleblind,
placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Neurol. 16: 505-512
3. Gopalan Y and Yuen K H (2014) Clinical investigation of the protective effects of palm vitamin E tocotrienols
on brain white matter. Stroke 45:1422-1428.
Koji Abe is currently a Professor and Chairman of Neurology at Okayama University Medical School in Japan. He graduated MD from Tohoku University School of Medicine, and then got PhD title from Tohoku University under direction of Professor Kyuya Kogure. He has been publishing more than 350 papers on cerebral blood flow and metabolism and neurodegenerative diseases. His research interests cover many important fields of neurology especially in the mechanism of ischemic brain damage, gene and stem cell therapy, neuroprotection, and neuroimaging. He is the Past President of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism (CBFM), and organized World CBFM meeting in Osaka in 2007 and Japan-Asia CBFM meeting Okayama city in 2014. He is currently serving Presidents of both Vas-Cog Japan and Vas-Cog Asia societies.
E-mail: abekabek@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
