NZ drug discovery boosts fast healing

By ANGELA GREGORY

A drug developed by scientists in New Zealand and London that could reduce paralysis after spinal injuries and speed the healing of other wounds is close to being tested on humans.

Researchers at the University of Auckland and University College London have been working on the treatment for five years.

Other scientists say their findings are a major discovery with huge potential.

The breakthrough came about through research led by Associate Professor Colin Green, of the department of anatomy with radiology at Auckland Medical School.



Professor Green said his team learned how to stop cell-to-cell death signals being passed on to healthy cells.

The discovery was an unexpected offshoot of research into the way cells communicate.

"We really discovered this by chance," he said.

Dying cells kill living cells by sending signals through channels called gap junctions.

The Auckland researchers and the London team, led by Dr David Becker, have created a product which virtually blocks that communication for short periods of time.

Professor Green said preliminary testing indicated the drug accelerated healing in skin lesions, stopped the spread of injuries, and significantly reduced scarring.





It would be of huge benefit to a people with spinal injuries, such as those from car crashes or sporting accidents, or those with brain damage from strokes or trauma.

In such accidents or illnesses, tissue damage keeps spreading for 24 to 48 hours, and the medication would stop that process.



Professor Green said the drug could be applied by injecting a gel around the spinal cord or on to the injured part of the brain.

"A person with a spinal injury who had this treatment within one to two hours could reduce the chance of permanent paralysis."

He said the drug also minimised swelling and scarring in skin wounds.

And it helped wounds heal more quickly, by speeding up changes in the behaviour of cells in the top layer of skin.

Because of this, it would be useful in treatment of cuts or burns.

Another important use was in cornea repair after laser surgery to correct eye defects such as myopia, he said.



Professor Green said the research was originally financed by the New Zealand Marsden Fund, and was a five-year joint project with the scientists at University College London.



The drug had been patented and financing obtained to take it to the preclinical trial stage. Clinical trials on humans were expected to begin towards the end of next year.





Professor Green said the product would be cheap to make, and its market was huge, because it had potential applications in many areas and few competing products.

It could be used as an eye drop after laser eye surgery, or as a gel for brain and spinal cord damage.