January 6, 2016 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Potential Mechanism in MS Pathogenesis Seen in Study Researchers found that a group of untreated patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) carry a specific group of hyperactivated immune cells, the inflammatory CD8+ T cells, suggesting a potential common mechanism contributing to disease pathogenesis. The study, “A Preliminary Comparative…
December 21, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD MS Active and Inactive Lesions Differ in Levels of Enzymes that Drive Glucose Metabolism A research team recently showed that key enzymes of energy metabolism pathways are differentially expressed in active and inactive multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, and may contribute to axonal degeneration in MS. The study, titled “Differential expression of glucose-metabolizing enzymes in multiple sclerosis lesions,” was published in the…
December 16, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD MS May Be Triggered by the Death of Brain Cells Researchers are proposing for a first time that multiple sclerosis (MS) is triggered by the death of a specific cell population within the central nervous system called oligodendrocytes. The study, titled “Oligodendrocyte death results in immune-mediated CNS demyelination,” was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Oligodendrocytes,…
December 10, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Potential MS Biomarker Seen in Adipose Tissue Secretion In a new study titled “Adipsin Is Associated with Multiple Sclerosis: A Follow-Up Study of Adipokines,” researchers report a correlation between an adipokine called adipsin and the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). The study was published in the Multiple Sclerosis International journal. Obese adolescents…
December 4, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Some RRMS and SPMS Patients Share a Similar Gene Expression in Response to IFN Treatment In a new study entitled “Transcriptional response to interferon beta-1a treatment in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis,” a team of researchers discovered a subgroup of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis patients (SPMS) exhibiting the same gene expression response to interferon (IFN) treatment as patients with relapsing-remitting MS…
November 30, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Pomegranate Seed Oil May Be Therapy for MS Disease and Its Progression In a recent study, researchers show how a natural antioxidant within pomegranate seeds is capable of inhibiting demyelination in a mouse model for multiple sclerosis (MS), supporting novel formulations of natural antioxidants as therapeutics for demyelinating diseases. The study, “Treatment of a multiple sclerosis animal model by a novel nano drop formulation of…
November 18, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Novel Protein Suppresses MS in Mouse Model, Inhibits Neuroinflammation in Spinal Cord In a recent study entitled “Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG35-55)-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is ameliorated in interleukin-32 alpha transgenic mice,” a team of researchers investigated whether interleukin (IL)-32, a cytokine with an established role in rheumatoid arthritis, has a protective function in a mouse model of human multiple…
November 16, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Hypoxia-Measuring Technology in MS Could Be Potential Biomarker for Treatment Responses In a new study entitled “Reduced cortical microvascular oxygenation in multiple sclerosis: a blinded, case-controlled study using a novel quantitative near-infrared spectroscopy method,” a team of researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary investigated whether frequency domain near-infrared spectroscopy technology can measure the potential…
November 13, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Could Remyelination Be Achieved in MS Using an Anti-Inflammatory Treatment? In a recent study entitled “Promotion of Remyelination by Sulfasalazine in a Transgenic Zebrafish Model of Demyelination,” researchers investigated whether sulfasalazine treatment, an anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating drug, could promote remyelination of axons in an organism model of demyelination diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The study was published in the…
November 11, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Potential MS Therapeutic Targets Found in Plasma Metabolites In a new study entitled “Untargeted plasma metabolomics identifies endogenous metabolite with drug-like properties in chronic animal model of multiple sclerosis,” a team of researchers performed a comparative analysis of metabolites between control mice and a mouse model with experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE, the most commonly used…
November 10, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Novartis’ MS Drug Gilenya Prevents Activation of Key Immune Cells in Study In a recent study entitled “Myeloid cells as target of fingolimod action in multiple sclerosis,” a team of scientists investigated the impact of fingolimod (Gilenya, Novartis), an approved drug for multiple sclerosis (MS), on the reactivity of myeloid cells, a key group that comprises several immune cells that…
November 6, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD New Insights Into Immune Cells’ Behavior in MS May Lead To New Therapeutic Approach In a recent study entitled “MicroRNA expression profiling of human blood monocyte subsets highlights functional differences,” a team of researchers discovered a pool of 66 microRNAs that underlie differences in phenotype and function of a group of immune cells with key roles in multiple sclerosis. The study was published…
November 4, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD New Multiple Sclerosis Study Reveals Protein’s Role in Disease Activation In a new study entitled “Transcription factor Nr4a1 couples sympathetic and inflammatory cues in CNS-recruited macrophages to limit neuroinflammation,” a team of scientists discovered the mechanism by which autoreactive T cells are capable of penetrating a patient’s brain and induce multiple sclerosis. The study was recently published in the advance online issue…
October 20, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Generic Form of Glatiramer Acetate Has Equivalent Gene Expression Profile as Teva’s Copaxone In a recent study entitled “Equivalent Gene Expression Profiles between Glatopa™ and Copaxone®,” authors determined potential differences in treatment responses by investigating the gene expression profile of two approved treatments for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis – Copaxone and Glatopa. Both of these MS therapies are glatiramer…
October 9, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Ocrelizumab: Could Genentech/Roche’s Experimental Drug Be the First Effective Progressive MS Therapy? Roche announced positive results for three pivotal Phase III studies of experimental MS therapy ocrelizumab in relapsing multiple sclerosis and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) patients at this year’s ECTRIMS 2015 conference. The results, particularly for treating PPMS, indicate that the novel therapy may represent…
October 8, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD ECTRIMS Highlights Latest Developments in Multiple Sclerosis Research The 31st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) is currently being held in Barcelona, from 7 to 10 of October, 2015. As the biggest scientific event focused on Multiple Sclerosis, researchers and clinicians from around the world, with more than 8,000 participants, gather…
September 24, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Brain-specific B Cells’ Reactivity Determines Glatiramer Acetate Therapy Success in MS Patients In a new study entitled “The brain antigen-specific B cell response correlates with glatiramer acetate responsiveness in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients,” a team of scientists discovered that differences in response to glatiramer acetate therapy among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is potentially dependent on the presence of reactive brain-specific B…
September 22, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Inhibiting LINGO-1 Protein is a Potential Future Treatment for Cognitive Impairment in MS Patients In a new study entitled “LINGO-1 antibody ameliorates myelin impairment and spatial memory deficits in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice”, a team of scientists report that the loss of myelin in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients’ brains contributes to their cognitive impairment. They showed that inhibiting protein LINGO-1 can…
September 9, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Discovery of Mechanism That “Guides” Immune System Cells to Injury Sites Could Benefit MS Research In a new study entitled “Neutrophil trails guide influenza-specific CD8+ T cells in the airways,” researchers uncovered a key mechanism mediated by neutrophils that guides immune system cells to the site of an injury or infection. Moreover, this mechanism is crucial for immune cells to function properly…
September 1, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Exclusive Breastfeeding Does Not Increase Women’s Risk for Multiple Sclerosis Relapse In a new study entitled “Exclusive Breastfeeding and the Effect on Postpartum Multiple Sclerosis Relapses,” researchers investigated how breastfeeding impacts risk for disease relapse in women with multiple sclerosis. The study was published in the journal JAMA Neurology. Around 20 to 30% of women with…
August 31, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD MS Susceptibility May be Influenced by Female-Specific Variations in MicroRNAs-Coding Genes In a new study entitled “Variants of MicroRNA Genes: Gender-Specific Associations with Multiple Sclerosis Risk and Severity,” researchers identified variations in genes coding for microRNAs that influence patients’ susceptibility to develop multiple sclerosis, as well as the disease course. Most importantly, these variations were gender specific, identified only…
August 18, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Sleep Deprivation Found To Be A Main Cause of MS-related Fatigue In a new review entitled “Fatigue in multiple sclerosis: a look at the role of poor sleep” author Lauren Strober, PhD explores the link between secondary fatigue and sleep disturbance in multiple sclerosis patients. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology.
August 10, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Apitope Completes Enrollment for Phase IIa Trial for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Apitope, a biocompany devoted to drug discovery and development for autoimmune diseases, announced that its partner Merck Serono has concluded the recruitment of participants for its Phase IIa Trial on relapsing multiple sclerosis, (known as a Phase IIa study of ATX-MS-1467 or also M2736) The drug, ATX-MS-1467, is an…
July 30, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Altered Immune Cells in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients Cause Reduced Immune Capacity In a new study entitled “Polymorphonuclear Cell Functional Impairment in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients: Preliminary Data” researchers investigated how polymorphonuclear cells — important players of the innate immune system — are altered in multiple sclerosis patients. The study was published in the journal PLOS…
May 1, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD GM-CSF Cytokine Production Contributes to Multiple Sclerosis Development In a recent study entitled “Expression of GM-CSF in T Cells Is Increased in Multiple Sclerosis and Suppressed by IFN-β Therapy,” researchers unraveled a key role for the cytokine GM-CSF in multiple sclerosis progression, suggesting GM-CSF as a target of IFN-β therapy. The study was published in…
March 30, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD New Purification Method Promises Affordable Antibody Production For Diseases Like MS The Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) developed a new purification method for pharmaceutical produced antibodies that promises to effectively decrease the high prices of these drugs in the market. Therapeutic antibodies revolutionized how doctors treat diseases affecting a large number of individuals, such as cancer and autoimmune…
February 25, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Likelihood of MS, Other Autoimmune Disorders in Women Increased By Mercury in Seafood According to Study A new study entitled “Mercury Exposure and Antinuclear Antibodies among Females of Reproductive Age in the United States” suggests mercury exposure by seafood may increase the risk of developing autoimmune diseases in women. The study was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Autoimmune disorders…
December 16, 2014 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD New Multiple Sclerosis Society Funded Study Tests Whether Vibrating Insoles Improve Balance A new Multiple Sclerosis pilot study was awarded a $39,000 grant by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to investigate how patients’ sensation in their feet while standing impacts balance and whether their ability to walk is improved through the use of vibrating insoles. Multiple Sclerosis is characterized by the destruction of the…
December 3, 2014 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Rogue Protein Found in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Also Present in Multiple Sclerosis In a recent study entitled “Detection of protein aggregates in brain and cerebrospinal fluid derived from multiple sclerosis patients” a team of researchers reported to have detected soluble oligomers in both brain and cerebrospinal fluid samples from multiple sclerosis patients. The study was published in the…
December 1, 2014 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD New Insights Into “T Helper Cells” Could Guide Future Multiple Sclerosis Therapies A recent study entitled “STAT5 programs a distinct subset of GM-CSF-producing T helper cells that is essential for autoimmune neuroinflammation” describes a new subset of T helper immune cells – TH-GM – that express a particular cytokine profile with implications in therapeutics for multiple sclerosis. The study was…