Old Pain Killer Might Help Atrophy Disease

A pain reliever taken off the U.S. market because of its toxic side effects may be a new treatment for a life-threatening childhood muscle-wasting disease.

Ohio State University researchers Monday said indoprofen, a member of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug class that also includes ibuprofen and naproxen, could be part of a future treatment for spinal muscular atrophy.

Researchers said the drug increases production of a protein crucial to the survival of nerve cells affected by the disease.

Indoprofen was removed from the market in the early 1980s after reports of serious gastrointestinal reactions and a link to cancer in laboratory rats. Researchers now are looking at modifying the drug to make it less toxic.

SMA strikes only about one in 6,000 newborn Americans each year but is the leading genetic cause of infant and toddler death in the United States as well as Western Europe. There is no cure or standard treatment, and children with the most severe form of the disease usually die before their second birthdays.