Posts by: Patricia Inacio PhD

Patricia Inacio PhD

Patricia holds her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from University Nova de Lisboa, and has served as an author on several research projects and fellowships, as well as major grant applications for European Agencies. She also served as a PhD student research assistant in the Laboratory of Doctor David A. Fidock, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York.

April 26, 2021April 26, 2021

Gilenya Increases Patient Infection Risk, Clinical Data Suggest

News

The multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment Gilenya (fingolimod) is associated with a 16% greater risk of infections, compared with a placebo or control treatment, according to data from 12 randomized clinical trials. ... Read more

April 19, 2021April 19, 2021

Kesimpta Approved in UK as At-home Relapsing MS Therapy

News

Kesimpta (ofatumumab) has been approved in the U.K. as the first self-administered, at-home, B-cell-targeting therapy for people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and active disease. More specifically, the ... Read more

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021

WNT9B Genetic Variant Linked to Increased Relapse Risk

News

A genetic variant in the WNT9B gene and vitamin D response are both associated with a greater risk of relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a recent study in ... Read more

April 13, 2021April 13, 2021

Phase 3 Trial of GA Depot as Monthly Relapsing MS Therapy Enrolling in US, Europe

News

A Phase 3 trial investigating GA Depot, a long-acting, once-a-month injectable formulation of glatiramer acetate, is seeking patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The global study (NCT04121221) aims ... Read more

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021

In Real World, Tysabri Lessens Disease Activity, Reduces Relapses in Pediatric-onset MS

News

Off-label treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) significantly lessens disease activity and reduces the number of relapses per year in patients with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), real-world data from Portugal show. The treatment ... Read more

March 23, 2021April 29, 2021

Pilates Helps Men With MS Gain in Balance to Lower Fall Risk, Study Finds

News

Pilates, done regularly, can significantly improve balance and posture in men with multiple sclerosis (MS), helping them to avoid falls and the injuries they can bring, a small randomized trial in ... Read more

March 22, 2021March 22, 2021

Pack Health, With NMSS Support, Brings Coaching Platform to MS Community

News

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) is helping Pack Health, a patient engagement platform, to optimize and expand its digital health coaching program to assist people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Building on ... Read more

February 24, 2021February 24, 2021

Enrollment Complete in Phase 2 Trial Testing Temelimab

News

GeNeuro 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 ... Read more

February 11, 2021February 11, 2021

KIF5A Protein Levels in CSF May Act as Biomarker of Progressive MS

News

The levels of KIF5A protein are elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) — the liquid surrounding the brain and spinal cord — of people with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and, ... Read more

January 11, 2021January 11, 2021

Cancer Therapy Seen to Protect Blood-brain Barrier, Ease MS in Mouse Model

News

Imatinib, a cancer treatment, stopped an injury response mechanism of the central nervous system (CNS) from activating, damage to which is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis (MS), an early study ... Read more

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021

Less Sunlight Means More Risk of Relapse, Disability, Studies Assert

News

Reduced exposure to sunlight, previously reported as a risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS), also seems to increase the risk for relapse and worsening disability, data from two clinical ... Read more

January 4, 2021January 5, 2021

Boosting Cholesterol Recycling in Brain Facilitates Myelin Repair, Study Says

News

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 ... Read more

December 17, 2020December 17, 2020

Restoring Neuregulin-1 beta 1 Protein Levels May Help Halt MS Progression

News

The levels of a protein called Neuregulin-1 beta 1 (Nrg-1beta1) decline with the onset and progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study suggests. The findings support the potential of ... Read more

December 10, 2020December 10, 2020

Children With MS Recover Better From Relapses Than Adults, Study Suggests

News

Despite having more severe first and second relapses, children with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) tend to recover better than adults with the disease, according to a study. Better recovery in ... Read more

December 8, 2020December 8, 2020

Adolescents With MS Have Lower Levels of Physical Fitness, Study Reports

News

Adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) have lower levels of fitness compared with healthy teenagers of the same age and a sex, a study suggests. Findings also demonstrated that among younger ... Read more

November 30, 2020November 30, 2020

Fewer Pregnancies, Premature Menopause Linked to Early Onset of Progressive MS

News

Women who have never given birth are more likely to develop early onset of progressive multiple sclerosis, according to a new study, which also found that a woman’s number of ... Read more

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020

Progressive MS Focus of EMSP Virtual Meeting Open to All Starting Today

News

Progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) is the focus of the 2020 virtual European Multiple Sclerosis Platform (EMSP) annual meeting that runs though Friday, Nov. 20. Registration is free for the two-day conference. Those interested ... Read more

November 16, 2020November 16, 2020

Infection With Toxoplasma Gondii Parasite May Protect Against MS, Study Suggests

News

Toxoplasmosis, an infection by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, may confer a certain level of protection against multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the results of an Italian study. The study, “Toxoplasma ... Read more

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020

Monitoring Fluctuations in Brain Volume May Help Track RRMS Disease Progression

News

The brain volume of people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) undergoes a dynamic cycle of enlargement and contractions, a new study shows. Patients with a lower volume (contractions) had less ... Read more

November 6, 2020November 6, 2020

Small, Myelin-rich Vesicles May Help Control Immune Response in MS, Animal Study Shows

News

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), tiny sacs released from myelin-producing cells called oligodendrocytes, may help dampen the immune system’s attack against myelin, whose loss is the hallmark of multiple sclerosis (MS), a ... Read more

October 6, 2020October 6, 2020

Pathway and Its Proteins Found to Control Myelin Repair, Renewal

News

A pathway controlled by three proteins — Daam2, Nedd4, and VHL — was identified by researchers as a key regulator of myelin production during central nervous system development and regeneration after ... Read more

October 2, 2020October 2, 2020

MS Patients Should Avoid ‘Silver’ Tooth Fillings Due to Mercury, FDA Advises

News

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are among the high-risk groups advised to avoid dental amalgams — silver-colored fillings that are 50% mercury — under new recommendations issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ... Read more

September 29, 2020September 29, 2020

Amarna Announces Research Collaboration for Testing MS Gene Therapy Platform

News

Dutch Amarna Therapeutics announced a research collaboration with Spanish Progreso y Salud Foundation (FPS) to investigate the efficacy of its gene therapy delivery technology in multiple sclerosis (MS) and diabetes. MS ... Read more

September 25, 2020September 25, 2020

MS Patients Have Higher Burden of Mental Disorders, French Study Finds

News

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a higher burden of mental disorders than healthy people or people with rheumatoid arthritis, a French population-based study suggests. The study, “Prevalence of mental ... Read more

September 3, 2020September 11, 2020

Targeting B-cells in Cerebrospinal Fluid May Lead to More Effective MS Therapies, Study Suggests

News

Immune B-cells are more abundant and have a pro-inflammatory profile in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the fluid that bathes the central nervous system,  compared to blood in people with relapsing-remitting multiple ... Read more

August 25, 2020August 25, 2020

Children with MS May Have More Relapses, But They Recover More Fully

News

Children with multiple sclerosis (MS) recover more quickly and “significantly better” from relapses than do adults — patients with disease onset at age 18 or older, researchers reported. The study, “Improved ... Read more

August 25, 2020August 25, 2020

Mavenclad Effectively Lowers Relapse Rates, Study Comparing DMTs Finds

News

Mavenclad (cladribine) appears to be better at lowering relapse rates during the first two years of disease in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients than other MS therapies, including interferon, Copaxone (glatiramer ... Read more

August 24, 2020August 24, 2020

Genetic Variants May Explain High Levels of Antibodies Against Epstein-Barr Virus in MS, Study Suggests

News

Genetic variants may contribute to increased levels of antibodies against proteins of the Epstein-Barr virus — a known environmental risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS) — in MS patients and ... Read more

August 18, 2020August 19, 2020

Good Work Habits and Adjustments May Help Patients Keep Jobs

News

The degree to which people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are conscientious — a personality trait that reflects responsibility, organization, and goal-oriented skills — in their work habits can help to predict ... Read more

August 13, 2020August 14, 2020

Too Much Cortisol May Affect Attention of Cognitively Non-fatigue MS Patients

News

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have high levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, compared to healthy controls. Also, patients categorized as non-cognitive fatigue show a higher variability in cortisol levels and perform ... Read more

August 10, 2020August 10, 2020

1 in 5 MS Patients Don’t Adhere to Daily Oral DMTs, Real-world Study Finds

News

About 20%, or 1 in 5, multiple sclerosis (MS) patients fail to adhere to oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) taken each day, and about 1 in 4 stop using a prescribed daily ... Read more

August 5, 2020August 5, 2020

Coffee May Help Ease Fatigue in MS Patients With Milder Disability

News

Drinking coffee each day appears to help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and milder disability and fatigue, with this patient group reporting in a questionnaire that caffeine allowed them to better ... Read more

August 3, 2020August 5, 2020

Regular Exercise Helps Preserve Key Brain Areas, Study Finds

News

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who exercise regularly are able to maintain volume in the hippocampus, a brain region responsible for learning and memory, a study reports. This work “adds to ... Read more

July 31, 2020August 6, 2020

Mental Fatigue in MS May Be Due to Poorer Brain Response to Tasks

News

The debilitating mental fatigue that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) can feel after a cognitively demanding task may be due to less efficient use of the brain, a pilot study that ... Read more

July 9, 2020July 10, 2020

Disability Builds in Relapsing MS in Ways Not Tied to Relapses, Analysis Finds

News

Disability appears to mostly accumulate in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a progressive manner — rather than being due to relapses, a pooled analysis of patients ... Read more

July 8, 2020July 9, 2020

Switch from Tysabri to Ocrevus Seen as Safe, Effective in RRMS Patients in Small Study

News

Switching to Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) within a relatively short period is a safe and effective option for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who stop treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab), a small and retrospective analysis ... Read more

June 30, 2020July 7, 2020

Boosting Cellular Energy at Sites of Myelin Loss May Stop MS Progression

News

Loss of myelin in nerve cell fibers — the hallmark of multiple sclerosis (MS) — leads to a shortage of mitochondria, a cell’s powerhouse, denying these damaged fibers the energy they ... Read more

June 22, 2020June 22, 2020

Hookworm Infection Seen to Boost T-cells That Regulate Immune System

News

A person infected through the skin by the hookworm Necator americanus shows a spike in  regulatory T-cells, specialized immune T-cells that work to limit inflammation, and a controlled infection by these ... Read more

June 16, 2020June 16, 2020

Aubagio Safely Used by 5 MS Patients With Active COVID-19 Infection

Covid-19, News

Five people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who tested positive for COVID-19 while being treated with Aubagio (teriflunomide)  all developed a mild infection, had good outcomes, and experienced no disease relapses, a case study ... Read more

June 5, 2020June 5, 2020

Ability to ‘Create’ Astrocytes Supports Their Damaging Role in MS, Like Diseases

News

An inflammatory environment can turn astrocytes, key supportive cells for neurons, into their killers, fostering the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. This work, ... Read more