ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex:RGN) announced today that in a preclinical research paper published in the May 2010 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery, (online ahead of publication), scientists found that the systemic administration of thymosin beta 4, or Tß4, significantly reduced brain tissue damage and improved brain function in rats with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. In the study, 10 rats were injected with Tß4 one day following the inducement of TBI and four times thereafter over a 12-day period, while 9 rats were injected with a placebo or saline solution. In the group of rats treated with Tß4, researchers observed reduced cell loss in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays an important role in long-term memory, as compared to the placebo group. The rats treated with Tß4 also experienced growth of new blood vessels and neurons in the injured cerebral cortex, growth of brain cells known as oligodendrocytes in the CA3 field of the hippocampus, and recovery of sensory and motor functions as well as spatial learning. The researchers noted that the data for the first time demonstrate that delayed administration of Tß4 significantly improves histological and functional outcomes in rats with TBI, indicating that Tß4 has considerable therapeutic potential for patients with TBI.
