April 18, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS AAN 2024: Sustained myelin, nerve cell gains with long-term CNM-Au8 Long-term treatment with Clene Nanomedicine‘s experimental oral therapy CNM-Au8 led to signs of sustained improvements in nerve and myelin health for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) over three years, according to new data from the VISIONARY-MS clinical trial. The findings continue to support Clene’s plans to…
March 27, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Exposure to household chemicals harms myelin-making cells Two types of chemicals in household disinfectants and furniture can disrupt the development of oligodendrocytes, the brain cells chiefly responsible for making myelin, a new study shows. The finding suggests that exposure to these chemicals may be a risk factor for disorders related to myelin such as…
March 19, 2024 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Neurostimulator to repair myelin in RRMS named breakthrough device The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated SetPoint Medicalās neurostimulator a breakthrough device for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). This designation is intended to accelerate the development of devices intending to more effectively treat or diagnose life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases than standard approaches.
January 18, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Synapses in CNS may be important in myelin production, per MS study Junctions between nerve cells and certain cells called oligodendrocyte precursor cells, or OPCs, in the brain and spinal cord may play an important role in producing myelin, the protective substance that’s progressively lost in multiple sclerosis (MS), new research suggests. OPCs are abundant in the brain and spinal…
August 30, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS New MRI technique effectively maps myelin content in MS brains A new system that can use MRI scans to effectively measure myelin content in brain tissue may help assess the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments. The technique was described in “Quantitative magnetic resonance mapping of the myelin bilayer,” which…
December 21, 2022 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Myelin Provides Metabolic Support to Inhibitory Brain Cells: Study Myelin, the fatty-rich material surrounding nerve fibers that’s progressively damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), provides metabolic support to a type of nerve cell in the brain that controls the activity of other nerve cells, a study discovered. Researchers showed mitochondria, the cellās energy producers, are specifically clustered in…
March 23, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD ProTEct-MS Trial Data Reinforce Previous Temelimab Studies Higher doses of temelimab were generally safe and resulted in beneficial trends on key neurodegeneration markers in adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who already were on rituximab treatment, according to top-line data from the ProTEct-MS Phase 2 clinical trial. While the studyās small size…
February 21, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Cognitive Problems May Be Due to Myelin’s Loss on Inhibitory Neurons Myelin is required for certain inhibitory neurons ā which help to suppress abnormal activity in the brain ā to work as they should, according to a study in mouse models. Loss of myelin on these neurons results in excessive electric activity in other nerve cells, likely disrupting the brain’s ability…
February 14, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: aHSCT, Myelin Vaccine, Bone Health, MIND Diet Blood Stem Cell Transplant May Help Immune System Longer I’m a proponent of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) to treat MS. The process entails extracting a patient’s own stem cells, usually from the bone marrow, treating them to kill immune cells that trigger MS attacks, and then infusing…
February 9, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Pasithea Plans to Develop Vaccine to Prevent Immune Attacks on Myelin Pasithea TherapeuticsĀ announced plans to develop a tolerizing vaccine that would treat multiple sclerosis (MS) by “training” the immune system in ways that prevent its damaging attacks. The vaccine will be developed under Pasithea’s new chemical entity development program for MS in collaboration with Hooke…
January 7, 2022 News by Yedida Y Bogachkov PhD Phase 1 Trial of ANK-700 for RRMS Advancing to Multiple Doses A Phase 1 clinical trial investigating the safety and tolerability ofĀ Anokion‘s ANK-700 in people withĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) has begun enrolling patients for its multiple ascending dose part. This opening of the study’s second part follows positive safety signs in patients given the one of two doses of…
January 4, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Being a Lifelong Musician May Protect Brain From Damage of Aging Being a lifelong musician can help protect certain tracts of the brain’s white matter from damage during aging, potentially warding off conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or dementia for years. That’s according to the study “Effects of Lifelong Musicianship on White Matter Integrity…
December 6, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Lucid-MS Restores Motor Function in Mouse Model, Company Says Lucid-MS, a new chemical molecule being developed by FSD Pharma for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), has shown the ability to restore motor function in an animal model of the disease, the company announced. After about 50 days of treatment, animals receiving Lucid-MS showed a marked decrease…
October 19, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ECTRIMS2021 ā Nrg-1-treated Immune Cells Can Promote Myelin Repair Editorās note: TheĀ Multiple Sclerosis News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the virtual 37th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), Oct. 13ā15. GoĀ hereĀ to see the latest stories from the conference. A…
October 4, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Study Finds Myc Gene Can Boost Efficiency of Myelin-repairing Cells Increasing the activity of a gene called Myc can make oligodendrocyte precursor cells, or the cells that repair myelin, more efficient ā “ground-breaking research” that could have implications for advancing MS treatments, according to a new study by Cambridge researchers. The study, “Myc determines the functional age…
September 24, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Cancer Researchers’ Discovery May Benefit MS Studies In an unexpected discovery, scientists working to understand the biological underpinnings of brain tumors found that increasing the activity of a protein receptor called PDGFRA reduces the production of myelin ā the fatty coating that is lost in multiple sclerosis (MS) ā in the nervous system. “We saw that…
September 13, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Pro-inflammatory Th17 Immune Cells Harm Myelin-producing Cells Pro-inflammatory T helper 17 cells, known as Th17 cells ā a type of immune cell known to play a role in multiple sclerosis (MS) ā directly interact with myelin-producing cells, promoting their damage and death, according to a study in a mouse model of MS and in samples from…
July 28, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Signaling Protein Seen to Help Promote Myelin-making Cells A signaling protein called fractalkine helps to regulate the development of oligodendrocytes, cells of the nervous system responsible for making myelin ā the protecting coating of nerve cell fibers that is damaged and lost inĀ multiple sclerosis (MS). This finding was in the study, “Fractalkine signaling regulates…
July 15, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Anti-CD20 Antibodies Reduce Myelin Loss in MS Rats Treatment with anti-CD20 antibodies reduced the loss of myelin and improved the survival of neurons in a rat model of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reports. The findings imply that B-cells ā the immune cells that are killed by anti-CD20 antibodies ā play a central role in the…
July 1, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD Destroying Myelin-damaging Immune Cells May Be New Therapy Vesicles containing the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin can be used to destroy the aberrant, myelin-damaging immune cells that contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS), suppressing the progression of the neurodegenerative disorder, according to recent research findings using a mouse model. If further validated, this technique could provide physicians with a new…
May 17, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Fatigue, Myelin, Gut Microbes, Bots Promoting Shots Fatigue Prevalence Remains High in MS Patients Is this a surprise to anyone who has lived with MS for any period of time? Over the many years since my diagnosis, fatigue has been my second most bothersome symptom. (Trouble walking is the first.) In this survey, researchers write that…
May 10, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS New 3D Model May Help in Promoting Myelin, Preventing Its Loss A new 3D model of the human nervous system is meant to mimic key processes in the development of the myelin sheath ā the fatty coating around nerve cells that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā ā to help with research into treatments that promote myelination. This model might also…
April 8, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Mertk Gene Plays Key Role in Myelin Repair, Mouse Study Finds A gene called Mertk has important roles in the repair of myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and protects neurons and that is lost in multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings were published inĀ Cell Press, in the study “Multiple sclerosis risk gene Mertk is required for…
February 26, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2021 – Young Brain Fluid (CSF) Rejuvenates Memory in Mice Editorās note: TheĀ Multiple Sclerosis News Today news team is providing in-depth and unparalleled coverage of the virtual ACTRIMS Forum 2021, Feb. 25-27. GoĀ hereĀ to see all the latest stories from the conference. Factors in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounding the brain and spinal cord change with age and can affect…
February 24, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Enrollment Complete in Phase 2 Trial Testing Temelimab GeNeuroĀ has completed patient enrollment in its ProTEct-MS Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating temelimab as a treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), the company announced. The study (NCT04480307), taking place at the Karolinska Institutetās Academic Specialist Center (ASC) in Stockholm, Sweden, has enrolled 42 people with relapsing MS whose…
February 8, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Plegridy, Telemedicine, AI for MS, Myelin Repair FDA Approves Plegridy as Intramuscular Injection for Relapsing MS A common patient complaint about Plegridy has been that its subcutaneous injection procedure results in injection site reactions. This new formulation is delivered into the muscle, rather than under the skin. The needle is longer, but Biogen pharmaceuticals thinks the…
February 1, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD Potential for Stem Cells to Repair Myelin Focus of University Toronto Team Teams of scientists at the University of Toronto are sharing a nearly CA$21 million (about $16.36 million) award into research that might lead to self-repair treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological disorders, the university announced in a press release. Eleven teams at the university and its…
January 20, 2021 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD New Primate Model Can Shed Light on Mechanisms Underlying Myelin Loss A new primate model uncovered by researchers can help scientists understand the immune and inflammatory processes underlying the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans, a study reports. It was already known that Japanese macaques ā also called snow monkeys ā can spontaneously develop encephalomyelitis (JME), a disorder that…
January 18, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD Compound That Mimics Thyroid Hormone Prevents MS Nerve Damage in Mice A thyroid hormone-mimicking compound not only prevented nerve cell damage but promoted the cells’ survival in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). This discovery advances previous research showing that the compound, called sobetirome, can induce the repair of myelin, the protective sheath around nerves. The data suggest…
January 4, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Boosting Cholesterol Recycling in Brain Facilitates Myelin Repair, Study Says New research in mice suggests that poor recycling of cholesterol in the brain impairs the repair of myelin, the protective coat surrounding nerve cells that is lost in multiple sclerosis (MS). Pharmacological stimulation of cholesterol synthesis by brain immune cells ā called microglia ā boosted the regeneration of myelin,…