RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on the development of a novel therapeutic peptide, Thymosin beta 4, or Tß4, for tissue and organ protection, repair and regeneration,  reported that researchers have shown that Thymosin beta 4 (Tß4) “provides both neuroprotection and neurorestoration after traumatic brain injury (TBI), indicating that Tß4 has promising therapeutic potential in patients with TBI.”

The aims of the study were to test if Tß4 treatment initiated 6 hours after traumatic brain injury in rats reduces brain damage and improves functional recovery. The rats were divided into two treatment groups and one placebo group. Tß4 or placebo was systemically administered 6, 24, and 48 hours after injury. Compared with the placebo group, Tß4 treatment initiated 6 hours post-injury statistically significant improvement of sensorimotor functional recovery and spatial learning, reduced cortical lesion volume and hippocampal cell loss, and enhanced cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the injured brain tissue. The high dose of Tß4 showed better beneficial effects compared with the low dose treatment.

The research was conducted by Xiong Y, Zhang Y, Mahmood A, Meng Y, Zhang ZG, Morris DC, Chopp MJ in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Henry Ford Hospital System (HFHS) in Detroit, Michigan pursuant to a material transfer agreement between the hospital and RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and published in Neurosurg., 2012 February 10.

"This preclinical study on the use of Thymosin beta 4 for the treatment of traumatic brain injury adds to the growing body of literature demonstrating the use of Tß4 in neurological injury. The collective evidence of the neurorestorative properties of Tß4 in animal models of multiple sclerosis, stroke and traumatic brain injury are compelling and we look forward to evaluating this drug in clinical trials," stated Dr. Dan Morris, Senior Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine at HFHS and one of the investigators in study.