The drug, dimercaprol, was designed to treat arsenic, mercury, gold and lead poisoning. It works by binding with the heavy metal and excreting it through the urine. Now researchers at Purdue have discovered that it functions similarly with a toxin called acrolein, which increases in the body after nerve damage. This increase in acrolein increases pain and triggers a cascade of biochemical events that are thought to worsen the injury’s severity and spread the damage.

Riyi Shi, professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences within the College of Veterinary Medicine and in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, is one of the researchers who has discovered a new purpose for dimercaprol. Dimercaprol was developed in WWII to treat victims of chemical warfare.

“Previous studies have shown that acrolein levels increase significantly after spinal cord injury. It may be a key factor of secondary injury, which can expand the damage to adjacent tissue,” says Riyi Shi, a professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering at Purdue University.

“An extensive body of evidence exists suggesting the toxic nature of acrolein and its pathological role in a variety of disease processes,” he says, evidence which has prompted the use of a scavenger like dimercaprol for the purpose of curtailing pain and further damage, and protecting the neurological system.

Researchers have found that the drug removes acrolein by attacking certain chemical features of acrolein, safely neutralizing it and removing it from the body.

“Dimercaprol may be an effective acrolein scavenger and a viable candidate for acrolein detoxification,” Shi says. He explains that it also has fewer side effects than other acrolein scavengers, and it does not remain in the system after it is excreted through the urine.

Clinical human studies are feasible in this case, especially since the drug is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Research is continuing at Purdue University’s Discovery Park.