Neuralstem, Inc. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase II: 105

Description

Project Summary Abstract More thanmillion people in the US andmillion people world wide are estimated to have diabetes mellitusPeripheral neuropathy is the most common of the consequences of long term diabetesaffecting more than half of all diabetic patientsDiabetes also impacts the CNS leading to cognitive deficits associated with encephalopathyloss of neuronsand myelopathymyelin damageDiabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer s diseaseADand increases risk of progression from mild cognitive impairment to ADThe only current recommendation for preventing or slowing progression of neuropathy is to maintain close glycemic controlwhich is not feasible for the majority of patientswhile there is no recommendation for preventing or slowing encephalopathyNSIis a new chemical entity that when orally administered promotes endogenous neurogenesis in the adult hippocampusincreases hippocampal volumeenhances synaptic plasticityand stimulates neuro regenerationIn our preliminary studies with a mouse model of typediabetesit has shown the ability to prevent multiple indices of peripheral neuropathyincrease hippocampal volumeand protect long term memoryIn the proposed projectwe aim to demonstrate that NSIcan prevent and or reverse peripheral and or central neuropathy in various animals models of both typeand typediabetes