Interesting findings on two studies in rats at the San Francisco VA Medical Center lead by Weihei Ying, PhD (a research scientist at SFVAMC and an assistant adjunct professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco): two novel treatments: a basic compound found in every cell in the body and an extract of green tea, may prevent stroke-caused brain damage.

The conventional method in delivering drugs to the vein is by IV (intravenous), in these treatments, both were administered through the nose.

• Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD+ reduced brain cell death from reperfusion by 70 to 86 percent compared with rats not given the treatment.
  
  [Reperfusion is the time when stroke damage actually occurs because brain cells are suddenly exposed to highly reactive and unstable oxygen molecules, which are toxic.]
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  This particular study appeared in the January 1, 2007 issue of Frontiers in Bioscience.
  
  
• Green tea extract gallotannin, or GT, can protect against post-ischemic brain damage.
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  [GT had been shown to inhibit the action of PARG, an enzyme closely related to PARP-1, and in doing so decrease cell death under ischemia-like conditions.]
  

Findings in this particular study were reported at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Society for Neurosciences.

In both studies, the rats' brains were subjected to ischemia or severely reduced blood flow.

Find more details from the USFC press release.