Progesterone shows promise as treatment for traumatic brai...( chest or groin. Donald Stein Ph...),Health

Donald Stein, PhD, Asa G. Candler Professor of Emergency Medicine and neurobiologist at Emory, discovered the neuroprotective properties of progesterone. He and members of his lab have been studying progesterone for almost 20 years.

"Our research has found that male and female rats with brain injury developed less brain swelling and recovered more completely when they are treated with progesterone shortly following the injury," Dr. Stein explains. "The hormone seems to slow or block damaging chemicals that are released after a brain injury, protecting the brain from the death of brain cells."

The research team is now planning a large, multi-center, phase III clinical trial designed to test the effectiveness of progesterone in 1000 patients with TBI and hopes to secure funding from the NIH for this project. They also hope to study the effects of progesterone treatment in animal models of blast-related brain injury, a major cause of death among combat personnel. They plan to implement a study of progesterone to treat pediatric brain injury as well, because brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability in children.

Equally exciting, animal research at Emory and elsewhere indicates that progesterone may limit damage from transient and permanent ischemic stroke. In light of these findings, Emory researchers hope to initiate a similar pilot clinical trial to study the effectiveness of progesterone or a progesterone metabolite to treat patients with acute stroke.