COG1410 improves cognitive performance and reduces cortical neuronal loss in the traumatically injured brain

We have previously shown that a single dose of COG1410, a small molecule ApoE-mimetic peptide derived from the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) receptor binding region, improves sensorimotor and motor outcome following cortical contusion injury (CCI). The present study evaluated a regimen of COG1410 following frontal CCI in order to examine its preclinical efficacy on cognitive recovery. Animals were prepared with a bilateral CCI of the frontal cortex. A regimen of COG1410 (0.8 mg/kg intravenously [IV]) was administered twice, at 30 min and again at 24 h post-CCI. Starting on day 11, the animals were tested for their acquisition of a reference memory task in the Morris water maze (MWM), followed by a working memory task in the MWM on day 15. Following CCI, the animals were also tested on the bilateral tactile adhesive removal test to measure sensorimotor dysfunction. On all of the behavioral tests the COG1410 group was no different from the uninjured sham group. Administration of the regimen of COG1410 significantly improved recovery on the reference and working memory tests, as well as on the sensorimotor test. Lesion analysis revealed that COG1410 significantly reduced the size of the injury cavity. Administration of COG1410 also reduced the number of degenerating neurons, as measured by Fluoro-Jade C staining, in the frontal cortex at 48 h post-CCI. These results suggest that a regimen of COG1410 appeared to block the development of significant behavioral deficits and reduced tissue loss. These combined findings suggest that COG1410 appears to have strong preclinical efficacy when administered following traumatic brain injury (TBI).