ProTECT (tool)

RRID:SCR_004531

Recently, our team completed an NINDS-funded, Phase IIa double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial that examined the pharmacokinetics, safety, and activity of progesterone, a steroid found to have powerful neuroprotective effects in multiple animal models of brain injury. Our pilot study demonstrated a 50% reduction in death among severe TBI patients and less disability among moderate TBI patients treated with progesterone. Based on these promising results and supportive preclinical data, we are conducting a large, phase III clinical trial (ProTECT III) to definitively assess the safety and efficacy of this treatment for adults with moderate to severe acute TBI. The study is slated to begin August 2008. WHY Progesterone: Although progresterone is widely considered a sex steroid, it is also a potent neurosteroid. Progesterone is naturally synthesized in the CNS. A large and growing body of animal studies indicate that early administration of progesterone after TBI reduces cerebral edema, neuronal loss, and behavioral deficits in laboratory animals. Certain properties of progesterone make it an ideal therapeutic candidate. First, in contrast to most drugs tested to date, progesterone rapidly enters the brain and reaches equilibrium with the plasma within an hour of administration. Second, unlike other experimental agents, progesterone has a long history of safe use in humans. Finally, the findings of our pilot clinical trial (presented in the Preliminary Data Section, below) indicate that progesterone has consistent and predictable pharmacokinetic properties, is unlikely to produce harm, and may be efficacious for treating acute TBI in humans.