December 22, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Cutting Brain-gut Vagus Nerve Lessens Loss of Myelin in MS Mice Severing the lower part of the vagus nerve — one of the main neurological pathways that connects the brain to the gut — led to less myelin loss in a mouse model that’s commonly used to study multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings suggest that the vagus nerve plays…
December 16, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Foralumab Nasal Spray for MS Well-tolerated in Mice for 3 Months Foralumab, a nasal spray therapy that Tiziana Life Sciences is developing for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other disorders, was well-tolerated in mice for more than three months, according to data from a preclinical study. Tiziana is planning to share that data in a meeting with the U.S. Food…
December 16, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS TreatSim Program Allows Simulation of RRMS Clinical Trials Researchers have created a computer program that can simulate clinical trial responses for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), which may improve clinical trial design for novel disease-modifying therapies. The tool, called MS TreatSim, was described in the study, “In silico clinical trials for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis…
December 15, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Testing for 4 Gene Variations May Predict Risk of PML Brain Infection Genetic variations in certain genes may increase the risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a serious brain infection associated with certain treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions, a new study shows. The findings suggest that testing for four specific genetic variant could help to predict…
December 15, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS 1st Abata Candidate Will Be T-cell Therapy ABA-101 for Progressive MS Abata Therapeutics has chosen its first treatment candidate for development: the T-cell therapy ABA-101 for certain forms of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The therapy is now in early studies that aim to support an investigational new drug application or IND — a formal request to U.S. regulatory authorities…
December 14, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Bright Light Therapy Shows Promise for Easing MS Fatigue in Small Trial Daily exposure to 30 minutes of bright light for two weeks led to clinically significant reductions in fatigue scores among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a small clinical trial. “The findings from our study represent a promising non-drug therapeutic approach,” Stefan Seidel, PhD, co-author of the study…
December 13, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS New Machine Learning Algorithm May Better Predict Severity in MS A machine learning algorithm that incorporates genetic data alongside clinical and demographic information may be able to more accurately predict the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. “Once independently validated, the machine learning algorithm could enable clinicians to provide patients with more accurate prognostic information,…
December 8, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Novel CAR T-cell Therapy Shows Promise in MS Mouse Study Researchers have developed a technique that uses CAR T-cells, a form of cell therapy, to specifically eliminate the self-reactive immune cells that drive multiple sclerosis (MS), without destroying healthy immune cells needed to protect against infection. “Our CAR-T cells were very effective at treating mice that have an MS-like…
December 6, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Gut Microbiome Composition May Help Predict Treatment Side Effects Differences in the composition of the gut microbiome are associated with an altered risk of low immune cell counts as a side effect of treatment with the multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate). The findings provide further insights on how the gut microbiome — the billions of…
December 5, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS After Stabilizing Treatment, Disease Activity Predicts Outcome in Study Assessing disease activity from the first to second year after a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), once treatment has been initiated and stabilized, can help predict long-term disability outcomes. That’s according to the study, “Rebaseline no evidence of disease activity (NEDA-3) as a predictor of long-term…
November 30, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Electrical Stimulation Helps With Bladder Control in MS, Study Finds Posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) — a procedure that delivers electrical stimulation to the bladder through nerves in the leg — can reduce symptoms of an overactive bladder in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to results from a small trial. The findings indicate that adding PTNS to pelvic…
November 29, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Removing Transporter Protein Spns2 Protects Against MS in Mice Blocking the activity of Spns2, a transporter of the sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) protein, reduced the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model, a new study shows. The findings point to Spns2 as a new molecular target for MS treatments that could reduce the side effects associated…
November 28, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Switching to Ocrevus Over Other MS Therapies Means Fewer Relapses People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who switch to Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) after discontinuing Gilenya (fingolimod) have fewer relapses than those who switch to Mavenclad (cladribine) or Tysabri (natalizumab), according to a new study. Rates of disability worsening were similar for Ocrevus and Tysabri, but patients who switched…
November 23, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Add-on Supplement May Bolster Interferon Therapies for RRMS A dietary supplement called Neuroaspis plp10 significantly lowered relapse rates and slowed disability progression among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) on interferon beta medications, according to a small clinical trial in Greece. “The results of this study suggest that Neuroaspis plp10 may offer greater benefit to patients with RRMS…
November 22, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Panel Calls for New Way to Classify MS Based on Underlying Biology An international panel is calling for new methods to classify multiple sclerosis (MS) that reflect the disease’s underlying biology, rather than differences in clinical presentation. The approach would fundamentally change how patients, clinicians, and other stakeholders understand and describe the disease, but would enable the development of biologically based…
November 22, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS Patients Help Steer Guidelines for Talks About Brain Volume Loss A team of doctors, researchers, and patients has come up with a set of recommendations to help medical professionals in navigating difficult discussions with patients about brain atrophy — or shrinkage — with multiple sclerosis (MS). “Our goal is to minimize misunderstanding and apprehension about brain atrophy, also known…
November 21, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS 2 Years of Vidofludimus Calcium Thwarts Disability Progression: Data Most adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who received Immunic Therapeutics‘ investigational therapy vidofludimus calcium have had no confirmed disability progression after two years of treatment. That’s according to new interim data from the open-label extension portion of the EMPhASIS trial, which has been running for nearly…
November 18, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Effect of Diabetes Medicines on MS Risk Varies by Age, Sex in US Study Among people with type 2 diabetes, the use of anti-hyperglycemic medications is associated with a reduced risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) for younger individuals, but an increased risk for older patients, particularly women. That’s according to the study “Age and sex differences on anti-hyperglycemic medication…
November 17, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS New Test Reveals Slower Signals Between Brain Regions in Patients Using a new approach to track signals traveling between different brain regions, researchers found that these signals are slower in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), even in regions with no apparent disease-related damage, a new study reports. The approach may help complement MRI findings to determine the extent of…
November 16, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS How Stem Cell Transplant Can ‘Reset’ Immune System in MS: Study Following an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), the population of “naïve” T-cells — components of the immune system that enable the body to fight off new, unrecognized infections — is completely renewed but some memory T-cells, which are responsible for rapid responses…
November 15, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Rituximab Doses for MS Might Be Best Timed By Measuring B-cells Timing doses of rituximab by measuring B-cell counts is a more tailored approach to treatment, and it effectively reduces relapses and disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a small study in patients with active disease. This tailored approach allowed patients to receive less frequent doses if their B-cell counts…
November 14, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Dietary Changes Can Help Ease Fatigue, Improve Quality of Life Dietary interventions may help ease fatigue and improve quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), although it doesn’t seem to impact disability progression, according to a new analysis. Researchers emphasized that it’s difficult to draw solid conclusions about the impact of diet in MS because there haven’t…
November 10, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Measuring Growth of Lesions in MS Better Predicts Disability Progression Measuring how lesions get bigger over time in multiple sclerosis (MS) can predict long-term disability progression more accurately than other lesion-based assessments, a new study reports. “Enlargement of T2 [total] lesions, and specifically of its volume, … is more strongly associated with long-term disability progression compared to other…
November 9, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Life Expectancy Declines Linked to More Severe MS Disability in Study Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with minimal to moderate disability live about 30 additional years after their diagnosis, but life expectancy steadily decreases as patients reach more advanced levels of disability, a new study suggests. For example, average life expectancy drops to just over a decade when patients become unable to…
October 25, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Risk of MS Activity After DMT Stop Greater With RRMS, Younger Age Note: This story was updated Oct. 31, 2022, to correct that in the six months after treatment discontinuation, relapses were reported in 18.8% of RMMS patients and 3.5% of those with SPMS. When multiple sclerosis (MS) patients stop their disease-modifying treatment, the risk of relapses and disease activity on…
October 24, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Trethera Awarded $1.6M to Develop TRE-515 as Optic Neuritis Treatment Trethera has been awarded a $1.6 million grant to further develop TRE-515 as a potential treatment for optic neuritis — inflammation of the nerves that transmit data from the eyes to the brain — which also is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). TRE-515 is a first-in-class…
October 24, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Recurrent MS Disability Progression Measures May Aid Trial Efficiency Measuring disability progression every time it occurs, rather than just tracking whether it occurs, could improve the statistical power of clinical trials in multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly for progressive forms of the disease. That’s according to scientists at Roche and several academic institutions who published their findings in…
October 19, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS SYK Protein Needed for Microglial Cells to Clear Molecular Debris A protein called spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) is critical for microglia, the brain’s immune cells, to clear the toxic debris that accumulates in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological disorders, a mouse model study shows. “We have discovered a master controller of the cell type and processes that are…
October 18, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS Therapy EHP-101 Boosts Blood Vessel Growth, Targets Inflammation EHP-101, an experimental treatment being clinically tested for multiple sclerosis (MS), activates a cellular signaling pathway that promotes blood vessel development and reduces inflammation following brain injury, a new study shows. The findings continue to support the use of EHP-101 in MS, a condition marked by excess inflammation and…
October 13, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS New Gait Analysis Tool Found to Correctly ID MS Patients in Videos A new tool that analyzes gait, or walking patterns, of people on a treadmill — using video recordings from a simple digital camera — is able to accurately identify those with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study showed. Scientists said the gait-analysis tool may be a low-cost and easy-to-use way…