Abstract

Cerebrovascular disease is the third leading cause of death and disability in many countries of the first world because currently a safe and effective treatment is still not available for this disease. Cerebrovascular disease is the third leading cause of death in Cuba and the leading cause of disability, as it affects 50% of the population over 60 years. The mortality rate increases exponentially with age, doubling every five years. This tends to prevail in our country, where 14% of the population is over 60 years, with a life expectancy of close to 80. In this paper, we offer a critical opinion on the advantages of employing nasal Neuro-EPO over the more frequently used intravenous Erythropoietin as a neuroprotector for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. The preclinical results obtained with this new molecule support a rapid delivery to the central nervous system, as well as its efficacy and safety in different animal models. Particular emphasis is made on the possibilities of this new drug in the development of novel treatments for chronic diseases and its potential preventive use in neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. It assesses comparatively, the state of the art in relation to the development achieved in our country and the prospects of the use of Neuro-EPO for the treatment and/or prevention of a disease that is virtually orphan of a specific treatment. Finally, recombinant human erythropoietin reaches the central nervous system with great difficulty through transmembrane diffusion or by saturable transport mechanisms, so Neuro- EPO would be an ideal candidate to develop its passage through extracellular pathways, specifically the nasal route

Keywords: Neuroprotection, cerebral ischemia, Neuro-EPO, Nasal delivery, Organum vasculosum, Sensory ganglionic, Choroid plexus, cranial nerves, glycosylation, astrocytes, Cerebrovascular disease, Erythropoietin, antiapoptotic, moieties, interleukin-1.