Even with delayed intervention, this neuroprotective agent delivers lasting protection to the hypertensive brain from ischemic injury.

BackgroundIn spite of the advances in understanding the pathophysiology of stroke, successful treatment remains a major challenge. The lack of consideration of preclinical studies with associated comorbidities is a primary factor for the translational failure, as ~94% of patients with stroke have ≥1 preexisting comorbidities. Because hypertension is the most common comorbid condition in patients with stroke and predisposition to hypertension is known to worsen stroke outcome, we evaluated the efficacy of a novel neuroprotective peptide derived from the brain‐enriched and neuron‐specific tyrosine phosphatase striatal enriched phosphatase (STEP) in attenuating ischemic brain damage under hypertensive conditions.