December 9, 2016 News by Malika Ammam, PhD Study Confirms Link Between Mutations in IL-23A Gene and MS Risk A new study confirmed the involvement of three genetic variants, or mutations, of the interleukin-23A (IL-23A) gene, and one variant of its receptor IL-23R, in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) and other related inflammatory nervous disorders, together known as inflammatory demyelinating diseases (IDD). Details of this study, “Characterization…
September 1, 2016 News by Malika Ammam, PhD MS Treatments May Lower Levels of Immune White Blood Cells Multiple sclerosis patients are at risk of developing lymphopenia, or abnormally low levels of immune defense white blood cells, called lymphocytes, according to a study that investigated lymphocyte counts in people with relapsing MS both before and after the start of treatment. The study, “Lymphopenia in treatment-naive relapsing multiple…
April 1, 2016 News by Malika Ammam, PhD Study Finds Aubagio Well-tolerated and Efficient in Long-term MS Treatment Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, in collaboration with various institutions from north America and Europe, found that teriflunomide (Aubagio) is well-tolerated and efficient for long-term treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings, entitled “Long-term safety and efficacy of teriflunomide,” were…
October 9, 2015 News by Malika Ammam, PhD Gilenya’s Clinical Trial Results Presented at ECTRIMS Reinforce Long-Term Efficacy Profile in RMS Patients On October 8, 2015, data on two Phase III clinical trials called FREEDOMS and FREEDOMS II on Gilenya (fingolimod), a drug developed by Novartis, were presented at the 31st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), currently being held in Barcelona, Spain (October…
October 8, 2015 News by Malika Ammam, PhD Biomarkers and Predictors For Developing Future Personalized MS Therapies Discussed at ECTRIMS 2015 New developments in the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) are being discussed at this year’s 31st annual Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). The symposium, being held in Barcelona, Spain, will foster discussions about development of individualized therapies for MS patients through a more targeted and…
September 17, 2015 News by Malika Ammam, PhD Ocrelizumab: a Promising New Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis with Minimal Side Effects On September 16, 2015, Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche announced that ocrelizumab, a drug originally designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis that saw its development stopped due to an association with infections, could potentially treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) as well as primary progressive MS (PPMS) with minimal sides effects compared…
September 15, 2015 News by Malika Ammam, PhD UK Multiple Sclerosis Society Proposes Urgent Revision of the Current Disability Benefits System for MS Patients Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition which damages parts of neurons resulting in inefficient communication within the nervous system. It is believed that autoimmune disorders and environmental factors, such as infections, can cause MS disease development. There is currently no cure for MS, although the disease can be managed by medications…
September 11, 2015 News by Malika Ammam, PhD Researchers Find OCT Imaging Technique a Reliable Tool for Multiple Sclerosis Assessment In a newly published study in the PLOS One journal entitled “Reliability of Intra-Retinal Layer Thickness Estimates“, researchers from Germany explored the precision and reliability of a medical imaging technique named optical coherence tomography (OCT) in measurements of thickness of different intra-retinal layers in…
