A new class of compounds for stroke and trauma: effects of 21-aminosteroids on lipid peroxidation.

The Lazaroids are the result of a blend of reasonable objectives which sprang from experience and hypothesis with a strong dose of serendipity. We believe that these compounds inhibit lipid peroxidation at a membrane level and, thus, blunt the damage from the secondary wave of injury which follows stroke, trauma and other insults to cell membranes. Certainly, these compounds are superior in animal models in potency and efficacy to older glucocorticoids. One compound, U74006F, has been selected for clinical development. Clinical trials in head injury will begin soon in selected centers in the United States.