June 10, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Inflammatory Immune Cells Found in Active, But Not Chronic, Brain Lesions A class of immune cells called myeloid cells that express the inflammatory protein SIGLEC1 may be able to distinguish between active and chronic multiple sclerosis (MS) brain lesions, a study found. The study, “SIGLEC1 (CD169): a marker of active neuroinflammation in the brain but not in the blood…
June 3, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD NfL Promising Biomarker for Predicting Tecfidera Response Low levels of serum neurofilament light chains (sNfL) prior to treatment predicts an optimal response to Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) and reduced immune cell overactivity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a study reports. The investigators noted the…
May 20, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Vitamin D Binding Protein a Potential Biomarker in MS Lower blood levels of vitamin D binding protein, known as VDBP, were observed in newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in a new study — findings that suggest the protein could potentially act as a biomarker for the neurodegenerative disease. “The…
May 3, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Combining Different Tests Gives Clearer View of Patient Life Quality The combined use of generic and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures gives a clearer representation of the effects of multiple sclerosis on patients’ quality of life and enables a more accurate comparison across countries, a study has found. “The…
April 26, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Mindfulness Helps to Reduce Depression, Fatigue in MS Patients Among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), mindfulness — paying attention to the present moment in a purposeful and nonjudgmental manner — is associated with reduced depression, which also leads to a decrease in fatigue, a small study reports. The study involved 69 relapsing-remitting MS…
April 5, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Switching From Gilenya to Lemtrada May Not Be Optimal Choice, Study Says Previous treatment with oral Gilenya (fingolimod) is associated with a suboptimal response to Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) and an increased risk of secondary autoimmune disorders in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a study reports. However, Lemtrada showed an efficacy in patients switching from various other disease…
March 19, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Survey: COVID-19 Concerns Affected MS Management Concerns about COVID-19 caused people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to postpone or deviate from recommended care — including appointments, imaging scans, and laboratory tests, a survey found. But notably, while most patients perceived their disease-modifying therapies as an added risk factor…
March 17, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Nerve Cell Loss in Retina Found to Be Worse in Patients on Interferon-beta The degeneration of nerve cells in the retina of the eye is more pronounced in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients taking interferon-beta than in patients treated with more efficacious disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a study finds. As the loss of such cells,…
February 15, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD TH17-suppressing Pregnancy Proteins May Be MS Therapeutic Target Proteins called PSGs suppress the pro-inflammatory activity of immune Th17 cells during pregnancy, potentially playing a protective role against complications and miscarriage, a study finds. The impaired regulation of Th17 is associated with pregnancy complications, like preeclampsia and preterm delivery — and also with the development…
February 11, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD 2021 Innovation Challenge Finalists Announced Lyfebulb and Bristol Myers Squibb have announced the 10 finalists who will compete virtually for a $25,000 award to support the development of innovations that address unmet needs in multiple sclerosis (MS). The…
January 26, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD PPMS Patients ‘Drove’ Slowing in Brain Atrophy Seen With Ibudilast, Trial Analysis Finds People with primary progressive MS (PPMS) appeared to show a much stronger response and to be the” driving” force behind a slowing in brain atrophy seen with ibudilast treatment in the SPRINT‐MS trial, a post-hoc study analysis reports. The treatment response observed in brain atrophy was more evident…
January 7, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Obesity, High BMI Linked to Greater MS Risk, Autoimmune Activity Obesity and a higher body mass index (BMI) are associated with both increased multiple sclerosis (MS) risk and harmful autoimmune activity that is induced by leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells, a study finds. These results indicate that leptin, which helps regulate…
January 4, 2021 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Mentally Overestimating Motor Tasks May Cause Cognitive Fatigue in MS People with multiple sclerosis (MS) tend to mentally overestimate the time required to complete a short walking activity, causing cognitive fatigue that may affect their quality of life, a study reports. The connection between cognitive fatigue and imagined motor exercises may offer a potential…
December 16, 2020 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Stem Cell Therapy Shows 2-year Benefit for Progressive MS Patients in Phase 1 Trial Lesser or stable disability over two years was evident in most progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients given a stem cell treatment in a small Phase 1 clinical trial, supporting a larger study now underway, researchers report. These results suggest that a treatment using mesenchymal stem…
November 24, 2020 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Tecfidera Found in Breast Milk But Levels Appear Safe, Case Study Reports Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) was detected in the breast milk of two women using the oral therapy to treat their multiple sclerosis, but at concentrations well below the “theoretical threshold of concern” for an infant, a case study reported. According to its investigators, this is the first…
November 18, 2020 News by Aisha I Abdullah PhD Disease Progression Differs More Across MS Type Than Sex of Patients, Study Finds Marked differences in disease characteristics are observed between male and female patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) but they are more pronounced when comparing patients across clinical subtypes, a new study finds. The analysis found that although women are more prone to…