# Potential Anti-Shock Drug



## Brooklynben (Jan 31, 2010)

Drug could turn soldiers into super-survivors 
27 January 2010 by Linda Geddes 

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527454.200-drug-could-turn-soldiers-into-supersurvivors.html

A LUCKY few seem to be able to laugh in the face of death, surviving massive blood loss and injuries that would kill others. Now a drug has been found that might turn virtually any injured person into a "super-survivor", by preventing certain biological mechanisms from shutting down.

The drug has so far only been tested in animals. If it has a similar effect in humans, it could vastly improve survival from horrific injuries, particularly in soldiers, by allowing them to live long enough to make it to a hospital.

Loss of blood is the main problem with many battlefield injuries, and a blood transfusion the best treatment, although replacing lost fluid with saline can help. But both are difficult to transport in sufficient quantities. "You can't carry a blood bank into the battlefield," says Hasan Alam of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "What we're looking for is a pill or a shot that would keep a person alive for long enough to get to them to a hospital."

When the body loses a lot of blood, it tries to compensate by going into shock. This is a set of emergency measures to raise blood pressure and conserve energy, such as increasing heart rate and shutting down expression of some proteins. However, if the body stays in shock for more than a short time, it can lead to organ failure, and death soon follows.

Recent studies have suggested that around 6 or 7 per cent of genes change their expression in response to shock, via the removal of "epigenetic", chemical additions to the genome called acetylations. As histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors can prevent the removal of such acetylations, Alam wondered if these drugs might improve survival after blood loss.

His team previously showed that valproic acid, an HDAC inhibitor already used to treat epilepsy, increased survival rates in rats that had lost a lot of blood. It seemed to be doing this by preventing acetylation, causing certain "survival pathways" to remain switched on.

Now Alam has repeated the study in pigs. He anaesthetised the animals, drained 60 per cent of their blood, and subjected them to other injuries before giving them a saline transfusion. He then injected some of the pigs with valproic acid, gave others a blood transfusion and left the remainder untreated.

Just 25 per cent of the pigs receiving only saline survived for 4 hours - the typical time it takes to get hospital treatment - while 86 per cent of those injected with valproic acid survived. All those that had a blood transfusion lived (Surgery, DOI: 10.1016/j.surg.2009.04.007).

Alam is currently repeating the trial to make sure valproic acid does not hinder survival in the longer term. If so, he will apply for permission to do human trials by the end of the year.

"It's exciting," says John Holcomb of the Center for Translational Injury Research at the University of Texas in Houston. "They're looking at resuscitation in a different way."

Earlier studies by Alam's team showed that rats that naturally survive traumatic blood loss also experience fewer changes in gene expression than those that die or suffer complications. He thinks the same might be true in humans. "Every person has this capacity to survive a huge insult, but most of the time it's dormant," he says. "That's why the same insult kills some people while others laugh and move on. What we're trying to do is make you super-resistant using the pathways and proteins that already exist."

However, Graham Packham of Southampton General Hospital, UK, who is investigating the use of HDAC inhibitors to treat cancer, says it isn't yet clear how valproic acid, which reacts with a wide range of molecules, is actually prolonging survival. "It's not clear whether this is driven by valproic acid's epigenetic activity," he says.


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## Muppet (Jan 31, 2010)

That is a intresting study. I know they are also studying the use of Narcan in shock victims. Somehow the narcan causes a vasoconstriction that assists the body in shock. When I find the study, I will post it also.

F.M.


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## Brooklynben (Feb 2, 2010)

I'm just wild ass guessing here; but I would assume that the valproic acid mentioned in the article, might require injection into a Ringer in order to effectively diffuse its positive effects?  While vasoconstrictors such as the Narcan you mention might be able to be used near the site of the wound(s) in a way similar to an epipen?  Regardless, it all sounds promising.


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## lefty2 (Feb 19, 2010)

Isn't VA just Depakote?  I remember in I school that you shouldn't give dep to head injuries and bleed patients right?    Wouldn't these be CI to the use?  IDK, I am just a emt-b with IV skills now since I moved to the truck:)

Bill


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## Muppet (Feb 19, 2010)

lefty said:


> Isn't VA just Depakote?  I remember in I school that you shouldn't give dep to head injuries and bleed patients right?    Wouldn't these be CI to the use?  IDK, I am just a emt-b with IV skills now since I moved to the truck:)
> 
> Bill


 

Yes, Valporic Acid is Depakote. The reason you don't give it with head injuries is that it atcs as a GABAnergic med. / stimulating the amount of GABA, causing depression (mental / resp.) similar to benzo's. Toxicity also causes high ammonia levels and other bad stuff. Thanks for making me do my homework. :)

F.M.


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## lefty2 (Feb 19, 2010)

So then after receiving awful trauma you get saved by a new shock Tx drug only to commit suicide.   Or your liver fails.  Either way that sucks


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## Muppet (Feb 19, 2010)

lefty said:


> So then after receiving awful trauma you get saved by a new shock Tx drug only to commit suicide.   Or your liver fails.  Either way that sucks


 

Depression as in resp. depression / decreased mental status I should have said.

F.M.


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## lefty2 (Feb 20, 2010)

Oh, ya I knew what you meant.  I think that you can give dep for depression also.  I was talking to my wife about this thread and she told me that some pts used to have depakote as a prn on a locked down adolescents unit at the CO Mental facility.  So I assume like all drugs given for anything mental they include thoughts of suicide.  This would be an awesome advancement if it works.  So would it increase the golden hour?


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