{"id":422334,"date":"2026-05-11T13:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/422334\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:59:08","slug":"new-nasal-spray-could-be-used-as-emergency-rescue-tool-after-stroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/422334\/","title":{"rendered":"New nasal spray could be used as \u2018emergency rescue tool\u2019 after stroke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists in Hong Kong have developed the world\u2019s first nasal spray to protect brain cells immediately following a stroke<\/a>, an advance they claim could lead to a new \u201cemergency rescue tool\u201d.<\/p>\n

Stroke is one of the leading causes <\/a>of death and disability, imposing an annual burden exceeding $890bn on healthcare systems worldwide.<\/p>\n

Current treatment for stroke begins after hospital admission and involves the use of clot-breaking drugs<\/a> and reperfusion therapies designed to restore blood flow through arteries going to the brain.<\/p>\n

As the window for effective intervention is extremely narrow, however, more than 85 per cent of the patients are unable to receive timely treatment.<\/p>\n

Many drugs targeting the brain in clinical trials also fail as they cannot cross the organ\u2019s protective barrier to keep away infectious germs from the blood.<\/p>\n

So developing timely interventions that are effective and safe within the \u201cgolden therapeutic window\u201d remains key.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe failure rate of drug candidates targeting the central nervous system in clinical trials exceeds 90 per cent, largely because these drugs cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, and thus fail to reach the brain to exert their therapeutic effects,\u201d Aviva Chow Shing-fung from Hong Kong University explained.<\/p>\n

To overcome this, scientists developed the \u201cNanopowder\u201d nasal spray with brain-protective drugs as the active ingredient, developed into ultra-small inhalable powders.<\/p>\n

\"Nasal<\/p>\n

Nasal spray to protect brain after stroke (Hong Kong University)<\/p>\n

The spray is inhaled into the nasal cavity, where it effectively deposits in the target area and separates into nanoparticles.<\/p>\n

The tiny particles then travel along the nose-to-brain pathway, bypassing the blood-brain barrier to deliver the drug directly to the organ, researchers say.<\/p>\n

The nasal spray provides early protection en route to the hospital, significantly slowing the death of brain cells immediately after a stroke and buys valuable time for subsequent intervention, scientists say, adding that it can be a breakthrough solution for prehospital emergency treatment of stroke.<\/p>\n

Researchers found that administering the nasal spray within 30 minutes of stroke onset could reduce the death of brain tissues by over 80 per cent and protect neurological and body movement functions.<\/p>\n

The spray can mitigate inflammation, prevent cell death and preserve the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, potentially extending the time available for treatment, they say.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a stroke, every second matters,\u201d Shao Zitong, a post doctoral fellow at Hong Kong University said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven an additional 10 minutes of brain protection might determine whether a patient can walk or speak in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key breakthrough of this technology lies in shifting stroke treatment from the ‘in-hospital’ setting to the ‘prehospital’ stage,\u201d she explained, \u201cenabling neuroprotection rather than merely clot dissolution or thrombectomy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists in Hong Kong have developed the world\u2019s first nasal spray to protect brain cells immediately following a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[105482,26382,134,4431,78870,195595,55855,111,139,69,216832,4371,88088],"class_list":["post-422334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-blood-brain-barrier","tag-brain-cells","tag-health","tag-hong-kong","tag-hong-kong-university","tag-nasal-cavity","tag-nasal-spray","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-protective-barrier","tag-stroke","tag-timely-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}