Iqra Mumal, MSc,  —

Despite increasing prevalence, multiple sclerosis (MS) continues to fly under the radar with only 40 percent of Australians ranking MS as a community health priority, highlighting the need for greater awareness. Estimates show that 25,600 Australians live with MS — an increase of 4,400 over the past eight years.

Comobidities are common in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the U.S., with the most frequent being high cholesterol and blood pressure, followed by gastrointestinal disease, thyroid disease, and anxiety, a database analysis reports. But distinctions exist between the sexes, this claims analysis found. High cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as diabetes…

Degeneration of the brain’s deep gray matter is associated with more rapid disability in multiple sclerosis patients, a European study shows. The research, “Deep gray matter volume loss drives disability worsening in multiple sclerosis,” was published in the journal Annals of Neurology. Scientists know that loss…

Gilenya (fingolimod) is an effective treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in everyday clinical practice, a new study shows. The therapy was shown to be effective even in patients switching from Tysabri (natalizumab) treatment. The study, “Effectiveness and baseline factors associated to fingolimod response in a…

Clene Nanomedicine says its pre-clinical studies demonstrate the remyelination effects of CNM-Au8, supporting its potential to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other demyelinating disorders. Clene presented its data in a session, “Nanocrystalline Gold As a Novel Remyelination Therapeutic for Multiple Sclerosis,” that took place at the third annual Americas…

A global collaboration of researchers led by Belgium’s Flanders Institute for Biotechnology has determined the structure of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-23 and its receptor IL-23R, which could be potential targets for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. Their study, “Structural Activation of Pro-inflammatory Human Cytokine…

Multiple sclerosis patients with central nervous system pain have high levels of a protein known as nerve growth factor in their cerebrospinal fluid, a study shows. The research, “Nerve growth factor is elevated in the CSF of patients with multiple sclerosis and central neuropathic pain,” was published…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a lower overall lifetime risk of cancer relative to a general population matched by area, age, sex and habits like tobacco use and alcohol consumption, new research reports, suggesting this lesser risk might be due to the nature of MS itself or to disease…

Multiple sclerosis patients should be routinely assessed for chronic and, especially, neuropathic pain in order to properly diagnose and treat this condition, which appears to directly affect the degree of a patient's disability, a new study reports. Pain is one of the most disabling clinical symptoms of MS, associated with suffering, distress, and lower quality of life. Many studies have investigated the prevalence of chronic pain in MS patients but with highly varying results: estimates range from 29 percent up to 92 percent. This disparity is likely due to methodological differences between the studies, as well as differences in the studied population. The result is the prevalence of pain in MS is still unclear, and underdiagnoses of pain in this patient population likely. Researchers in Italy conducted a single-center study to determine the prevalence and characteristics of chronic pain, defined as constant pain for more than three months, in a population of MS patients. Pain was evaluated using validated tools, and the results were analyzed in relation to clinical features such as disease duration and disability. In total, 374 MS patients with different disease severities were assessed for pain. Results found an overall prevalence of chronic pain of 52.1, most frequently affecting the lower limbs. Neuropathic pain, which refers to pain resulting from a lesion or disease impacting the sensory nervous system, was the most frequent type of chronic pain, affecting 23.7 percent of the patients analyzed. Pain intensity was also found to be significantly higher in patients with neuropathic pain compared to those with non-neuropathic pain. Researchers measured patients' disability using the Expanded Disability Status Scale. They determined that patients with chronic pain, and especially those with chronic neuropathic pain, had significantly higher EDSS scores (meaning greater disability) than those without such pain. Both these patient groups were also more likely to be on long-term pain medications: 33 percent of MS patients with neuropathic pain, and 24 percent of those with chronic pain. These results indicate that pain is underdiagnosed and undertreated in MS patients, and a factor that may contribute to increased disability. “Our results suggest that clinical disability is higher in MS patients with chronic pain and, in particular, in those with neuropathic pain,” the researchers concluded. “The present study supports the routine assessment of neuropathic pain in MS patients.”

Available long-term data on Fampyra (fampridine; 4-aminopyridine) suggest the treatment may improve walking speed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) for up to one year, but more research is needed, a French study reports. The study “Multiple Sclerosis and Clinical Gait Analysis before and after Fampridine: A Systematic Review”…

The CXCR7 receptor present on mature monocytes — a type of white blood cell — may be a therapeutic target to alleviate the inflammation seen in multiple sclerosis (MS) and similar disorders, a new study shows. The study, “Frontline Science: CXCR7 mediates CD14+CD16+ monocyte transmigration across the blood…

The generation of a thin myelin sheath during remyelination — one that continues to protect nerve cells over time — is indicative of the long-term health and activity of the central nervous system (CNS) in demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. These findings, which aim…

Atara Biotherapeutics has started a Phase 1 clinical trial to assess ATA188’s safety and potential to treat progressive or relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. ATA188 is the company’s next-generation T-cell immunotherapy. It targets Epstein-Barr virus antigens that play an important role in the development of MS. An antigen is a molecule capable of…

Opioid growth factor (OGF) can serve as a new biomarker to determine diagnosis and progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), say researchers at Pennsylvania State University. Their study, “Serum [Met5]-enkephalin levels are reduced in multiple sclerosis and restored by low-dose naltrexone,” appeared in the journal Experimental Biology and…

Two researchers at the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research have received an innovative multiple sclerosis research fellowship that was created to drive basic scientific research into treatment development and the doctor's office. MS Research Australia and The Macquarie Group Foundation founded the three-year, $750,000 program. It is unique in that it will bring together basic science researchers and therapy-development researchers to try to convert laboratory research into disease solutions. The grant was awarded to Professor Bruce Taylor, a Menzies researcher who is also a neurologist at the Royal Hobart Hospital, and to Dr. Kaylene Young, a neuroscientist whose long career in laboratory research has focused on mechanisms that the brain uses to repair itself. Taylor’s achievements include identifying genetic mutations that may increase the risk of a person developing MS. The award will help him move these discoveries to the lab to determine how the mutations harm cells. Young discovered that a type of non-invasive brain stimulation can increase brain stem cells' ability to produce new cells that repair the nervous system. She plans to move the technology, known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, from the lab to therapy-development-related research.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada — with input from both experts and patients — has developed a "wellness toolbox" with strategies to help multiple sclerosis (MS) patients cope with their disease. Wellness is becoming a big area of research, particularly in patients with chronic diseases such as MS. With an estimated 291 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013, according to the Multiple Sclerosis International Foundation, Canada has the world's highest incidence of MS. While pharmaceutical and scientific research are advancing in the therapeutic area, studies are also underway to determine the contribution of wellness factors such as nutrition, physical activity and emotional well-being -- to quality of life for MS patients. With that in mind, the Toronto-based MS Society of Canada conducted a Wellness Survey, which led to the launch of the Hermès Canada | MS Society Wellness Research Innovation Grant. These grants are awarded to scientists conducting research on MS and wellness factors. The University of Saskatchewan, which received one such grant in 2016, investigated the effect of Pilates in people with MS. The study recruited 30 MS patients. Half took Pilates classes twice a week and massage therapy once a week, while the other half only did once-a-week massage therapy. Results showed that patients who took Pilates classes saw an improvement in their overall condition, compared to patients in the control group. To create its wellness toolbox, the MS Society of Canada received input from MS patients about strategies that have helped them manage the disease and live a full life.

British military personnel are at significantly higher risk of dying from multiple sclerosis than people in other occupations, a study reports. University of Southampton researchers had done a previous study of mortality rates by occupation by checking records of residents of England and Wales. They noticed that the death rate among MS patients in the armed forces was much higher than that of people in other professions over three successive decades. MS has a genetic component but is also influenced by environmental factors, including vitamin D deficiency, smoking and certain viruses. Researchers wanted to learn why so many military people die of MS, and the causes. The team looked at the death records of men aged 20-74 between 1979 and 2010. They compared military people's MS-related mortality rates and death rates from all motor neuron diseases with those of other occupations. They also compared rates across social classes, which in the military presumably means lower-ranking enlisted people, higher-ranking enlisted people, and officers. They discovered that the MS-related mortality rate among military people was significantly higher than in other professions. The death rate from MS was also significantly higher than the rate from all motor neuron diseases in the armed forces. Interestingly, military people did not have a higher MS-related death rate when the team divided those in the study into three social classes or when they compared the armed forces mortality rate to those of similar occupations, such as police and fire services. The consistency of the findings, together with the high statistical significance observed, indicated that the results were not due to simple chance or a problem with the study method, the team said. They speculated that the higher military death rate could stem from the close proximity in which military personnel live and work, which could facilitate the transmission of infections that have the potential to cause MS. The results conflicted with those of a study that analyzed hospital admissions due to MS in a population of former military personnel. It reported no increased incidence of MS-related admissions in former military people, compared with non-military controls. Since such cohort studies are less prone to bias, the Southampton team called for more research on the topic.

A new study highlights a crucial role for the enzyme protein tyrosine phosphatase N2 in the development of early immune T-cells, and suggests that decreased levels of this enzyme can lead to the production of subsets of T-cells that contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. T-cells, which are a type of immune cells that fight infection, are composed of multiple subsets that have different roles in immunity. Researchers at Monash University set out to characterize the role of PTPN2 in early T-cell development and in the development of T-cell subsets αβ TCR and γδ TCR. To do this, researchers deleted the gene coding for PTPN2 and looked at the resulting T-cell population. Results demonstrated that the deletion of PTPN2 led to the production of γδ T-cells with pro-inflammatory properties that have been associated with many autoimmune diseases by inhibiting certain pathways that regulate proper T-cell development. “This is an important advance in our understanding of critical checkpoints in T-cell development,” Tony Tiganis, principal research fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University in Australia, said in a press release. “It helps decide whether the progenitors go on to become T-cells or something else; if they become one type of T-cell or another type.” Interestingly, there are already drugs that target some of the pathways that PTPN2 regulates, which could lead to the use of existing drugs to treat some of these autoimmune diseases, including MS. “Understanding the mechanisms that govern early T-cell development and how these are altered in human disease may ultimately afford opportunities for novel treatments. This is very exciting,” said Florian Wiede, a post-doctoral candidate at Monash and first author of the study.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the first year of diagnosis frequently suffer from depression, pre-morbid personality, self-perception issues and other psychological problems, an Italian study finds. Yet it is hard to predict the degree of symptoms since MS takes a different course in each individual. The study, “The first year after…

Patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) have a higher burden of illness than patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, a new study showed. The study, “Characteristics, burden of illness, and physical functioning of patients with relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: a cross-sectional US survey,” appeared  in…