Drug Offers Hope For Multiple Sclerosis Patients
A drug that has been developed to treat a form of leukemia has also been discovered to be quite effective in treating multiple sclerosis. The said drug, known as alemtuzumab, has been discovered not only to stop early stage active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis or RRMS but also seems to help restore lost function caused by the disease.
Alemtuzumab is actually a drug that is licensed for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia. But it has also been recently tested in several diseases where the cause can be traced to an overactive immune system, which includes multiple sclerosis.
The study, which was headed by researchers from the University of Cambridge, found out that alemtuzumab helped reduce the number of attacks experienced by patients with relapsing-remitting MS by as much as 74 percent. This is known to be better than what interferon beta-1a, one of the most effective drugs against MS, can achieve. Not only that, the use of alemtuzumab also showed a 71 percent reduced risk of sustained accumulation of disability among the MS patients treated, compared to interferon beta-1a.
Another thing that the researchers were able to find out is that some patients who took alemtuzumab during the said trial were also able to recover some of their lost functions or were less disabled after three years than when they begun treatment at the beginning of the study. This may suggest that alemtuzumab allows repair of damaged brain tissue to enable the recovery of neurological functions that was lost due to MS.
Alastair Compston, Professor of Neurology and the Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge and principal investigator in the study said, “Alemtuzumab is the most promising experimental drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, and we are hopeful that the Phase 3 trials will confirm that it can both stabilize and allow some recovery of what had previously been assumed to be irreversible disabilities”.
“The ability of an MS drug to promote brain repair is unprecedented. We are witnessing a drug which, if given early enough, might effectively stop the advancement of the disease and also restore lost function by promoting repair of the damaged brain tissue,” added Dr Alasdair Coles, University Lecturer at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge who also coordinated with the many aspects of the study.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/126550.php
New Blood Test for MS Developed
Researchers from a laboratory based in Glasgow, Scotland in the United Kingdom have announced that it has developed a new blood test which can detect certain chemicals that is associated with the deterioration of nerve cells in people with multiple sclerosis. The blood test, according to the researchers, can aid doctors to track the progression of MS and help them determine when the patients are about to enter into the next stage of deterioration.
The laboratory of Glasgow Health Solutions, which is headed by Dr. Tom Gilhooly, has developed a test called the Tyscore Array. This test can be used to measure the level of a chemical known as nitrotyrosine, a substance that acts as an indicator of cell inflammation and damage associated with people suffering from multiple sclerosis. The test is then used as a biomarker for peroxynitrite activity which is thought to cause the deteriorating nerve damage associated with MS.
Despite this development and the claims, there are some people who might be taking this news with a grain of salt. One is Dr. Laura Bell, the Research Communications Officer at the MS Society. She said, “Yes, there is some science that suggests nitrotyrosine levels are raised in people with MS, but its value as a biomarker simply has not been validated and therefore interpretation of the results would be open to question.”
Dr. Bell further added, “Also, there are currently no biomarkers known to predict MS, either in the blood or urine and no drugs to suppress nerve loss or indeed progression in secondary progressive MS or primary progressive MS anyway, so a positive result would not lead to a change in treatment or diagnosis.”
Research on finding an effective biomarker for MS is currently undergoing, with the MS Society included among many other research firms. Using nitrotyrosine levels in the body as a biomarker for MS is still open for further study. “It’s also worth remembering that nitrotyrosine levels could be induced by a number of different things including infections. People with progressive MS are more likely to get infections, particularly urinary tract infections, and this would confuse the results”, added Dr. Bell.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124515.php
High Levels Of Immune Protein Found In Spinal Fluid Of MS Patients
A certain protein known to subdue the body’s immune response has been found to be more abundant in the spinal fluid of people suffering from multiple sclerosis. The said protein, identified as TREM-2, may be seen as a contributor to the development of the disease although further studies may be needed to establish it.
Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that excess TREM-2 freely floating in the spinal fluid of people with MS. TREM-2 is considered as a receptor protein known to dampen immune response in the body. The researchers also compared the levels of the same form of protein with people suffering from various types of MS as well as other conditions associated with an impaired central nervous system. The scientists found that the soluble form of TREM-2 was significantly higher in people with MS.
Although multiple sclerosis is considered as a result of an overactive immune system, the existence of the excess TREM-2 protein in the spinal fluid of MS patients do not seem to provide any beneficial effects. The high levels of such immune dampening protein in the spinal fluid shows that this might not be the case. Scientists believe that the said protein may not be located in the area of the body where it may be able do its job properly.
The researchers believe that the excess TREM-2 in the spinal fluid can make it more difficult for the same protein attached into immune cells to keep the immune response under control. As a receptor cell, TREM-2 requires another molecule in order to activate it. Currently, the researchers have no idea what that molecule is. What the researchers have theorized is that the activator molecule may have already bound itself to the excess TREM-2 molecules found in the spinal fluid, making them unable to bind with TREM-2 protein cells attached to the immune cells in order to activate it.
If the said theory is thus proved through further research in addition to the discovery of the yet unknown activator cell, it may well be another new target where future MS treatments can be developed from.
Source: http://www.mssociety.org.uk/research/news_in_research/research_news/trem2.html
