Patricia Inacio, PhD, science writer —

African-Americans and Hispanics with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) have higher blood levels of plasmablasts, a type of inflammatory immune cell that produces antibodies, than do Caucasians with this disease, a study found. The study “Black African and Latino/a identity correlates with increased plasmablasts in MS” was published in the journal…

A large retrospective study suggests that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker — called “brain atrophied T2 lesion volume” — could help predict the timing of multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. According to the study, this marker was the only MRI parameter capable of predicting disease progression, compared with other…

Two potassium ion channels located at gaps between segments of myelin are required for high frequency and high-speed conduction of electrical impulses along myelin-rich nerves, a study shows. Loss of the workings of these potassium channels in what are called the nodes of Ranvier slowed nerve conduction, and impaired the sensory response of a rat. These findings suggest that similar problems with these channels may exist in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study “TREK-1 and TRAAK Are Principal K+ Channels at the Nodes of Ranvier for Rapid Action Potential Conduction on Mammalian Myelinated Afferent Nerves” was published in the journal Neuron. Myelin, the fat-rich substance that wraps around nerve fibers (axons), works to insulate and increase the velocity of the signals relayed by nerve cells. Gaps between segments of myelin, or nodes of Ranvier, also work to amplify these signals. Nerve impulses must travel and arrive at relay points extremely quickly for effective connection and communication between brain regions. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) showed for the first time that the nodes of Ranvier have potassium channels that allow the myelinated nerves to propagate nerve impulses at very high frequencies, and with high conduction speeds. This is key for fast transmission of sensations and rapid muscle control in mammals. The nodes of Ranvier were first discovered in 1878 by the French scientist Louis-Antoine Ranvier. Later research, dating from 1939, showed that they work as relay stations placed along myelinated nerves — about 1 millimeter apart — for proper conduction of nerve impulses at rates of 50 to 200 meters per second. Between these nodes, the nerve is wrapped in myelin. When the nerve fires, the electrical impulse travels along the nerve (called action potential) from one node to the other at a speed 100 times faster than that of impulses in nerves lacking myelin. Neuroscientists know that ions crossing the membrane of nerve cells are required to fire electrical impulses along nerves, but whether potassium ion channels were present in the nodes of Ranvier remained a matter of debate. No one had been able to use patch clamps — a technique that allows recording of whole-cell or single-ion channel currents flowing across membranes — to the nodes of the small intact nerves in mammals. UAB researchers led by Jianguo Gu, PhD, worked with a rat and identified two ion channels, called TREK-1 and TRAAK, as the main potassium channels in the nodes of Ranvier of the rat’s myelinated nerve. Most importantly, they showed these ion channels allow high-speed and high frequency conduction of nerve impulses along the myelinated afferent nerves — those carrying information from the sensory organs (like the eyes or skin) to the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). TREK-1 and TRAAK channels were highly enriched — 3,000 times higher — at the nodes of Ranvier in afferent nerves than in the nerve cell’s body. When the scientists removed (knocked down) these channels, conduction speed in the rat's nerve dropped by 50 percent, and the rat's "aversion reaction" to its whisker being flicked was slower. "TREK-1 and TRAAK are clustered at nodes of Ranvier of myelinated afferent nerves," the researchers concluded, and "suppressing these channels retards nerve conduction and impairs sensory functions." Increasing evidence shows that dysfunction in the nodes of Ranvier are present in neurological diseases, including MS. Whether autoantibodies (antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues) target the TREK-1 and TRAAK to affect nerve conduction, leading to sensory and motor problems such as those seen in MS, remains to be investigated, Gu said in a UAB news release written by Jeff Hansen.

Pharmascience recently launched pms-Fingolimod, a generic version of Novartis’ Gilenya (fingolimod), to treat adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in Canada. The new generic is now available in that country, and has demonstrated efficacy and safety similar to Gilenya. Generic medicines are chemically identical to the original branded therapy, but carry a…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), including clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), and active secondary progressive disease (SPMS). Vumerity (previously known as ALKS 8700) was developed by Alkermes…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) awarded $14.6 million in grants supporting 43 new and multiyear research projects into multiple sclerosis (MS), part of a projected $36 million investment in disease research for 2019, the society announced on its website. Funded projects include research into new ways of halting progressive MS, the…

Newer disease-modifying treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) are effective but also known to carry a greater risk of infections in a patient group already more likely to be troubled by infections — and this higher risk is particularly evident in treatment with rituximab, a DMT often used off-label in…

Targeting the chemokine receptor CXCR6, a protein at the surface of a certain group of T helper cells, prevented the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease, a study reports. Its findings suggest that antibodies targeting T helper cells — known drivers of MS —…

Careful profiling of inflammatory markers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of multiple sclerosis patients, coupled with standard exams and scans, helps in understanding disease evolution and treatment response, a case report suggests. It followed a relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patient whose inflammatory markers in the CSF remained high over time, and…

Ublituximab continues to be safe and well-tolerated by people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) after a median follow-up of 124.7 weeks — more than 2 years — according to data from an extension Phase 2 trial. The data were shown in a…

Late-line use of H.P. Acthar Gel to treat relapses in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) is linked with lower costs than other therapies used after an initial poor response, including plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin, according to an analysis by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, the treatment’s marketer. George Wan, PhD, Mallinckrodt’s vice president and…

Relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are associated with greater medical and non-medical costs, according to real-world data from two German observational studies. These findings support early treatment with disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that help to control disease relapses, its researchers said, as a way of possibly reducing such economic…

Damage to nerve cells appears to occur years before people with multiple sclerosis (MS) begin to show symptoms and is evident in a likely biomarker, new data suggest. Researchers found raised levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), a protein associated with nerve cell damage, in blood samples collected six years…

Oxcarbazepine, an anti-epileptic medicine, given in combination with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) may help to stop disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, results of Phase 2 trial suggest. Monica Marta, PhD, with Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust/The Royal London Hospital presented the data at the…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases than the general population, according to a large Swedish nationwide study. This risk is higher for patients diagnosed before age 40, the study found. Fredrik Piehl, MD, PhD, from Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden, presented the…

Treatment for more than six years with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) is linked to lower levels of blood antibodies among people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and relapsing MS, but rates of serious infections also remain low, an analysis of data from three Phase 3 trials show. Dropping below a certain…

New 10-year data from the Phase 3 ENDORSE trial confirms the long-term benefits of Biogen’s Tecfidera for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the most common form of this disease. Real-world data from another study also showed Tecfidera to be superior to several other disease-modifying therapies for relapsing MS,…

Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) in the blood — a proposed biomarker for multiple sclerosis (MS) — is linked with worse neurologic function at levels above a certain threshold, according to data from a large, real-world study. Kathryn Fitzgerald, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of…

The out-of-pocket costs for self-administered disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients on Medicare increased more than sevenfold from 2006 to 2016, according to a new study. This was reported by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh in a…

The relationship between fatigue and patterns of physical activity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is not straightforward. New findings show that, among MS patients with similar fatigue levels, there are three different types — or “clusters” — of physical behavior. Clinicians should be aware of these behavioral…

Our brains — much like our joints — stiffen with age, causing brain stem cells called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) to lose their ability to proliferate and transform into oligodendrocytes, the cells that produce myelin, an essential component for nerve cell communication, a study found. But tricking OPCs into sensing a…

Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) may develop additional (secondary) autoimmune reactions. Anti-CD20 therapies, including rituximab or Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), are a potential treatment for Lemtrada-associated autoimmune complications in patients who fail to respond to other conventional immunotherapies, according to a case report about two women in…

Early and continuous treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod) in young  people — those ages 30 years or younger — with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) decreases the risk of disability progression, and lowers annual relapse rates and brain lesions, new analysis from the FREEDOMS and FREEDOMS II trials show. The…

Gilenya (fingolimod) has been approved in China as a disease-modifying therapy to treat adults and children, ages 10 and older, with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Gilenya, marketed by Novartis, is an oral disease-modifying treatment for relapsing MS. It acts by binding and modulating receptors…

The Phase 2 clinical trial testing BrainStorm Cell Therapeutic’s investigational NurOwn therapy for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) has added a third clinical site, the company announced. The trial (NCT03799718) now will enroll patients at the Keck School of Medicine of The University of Southern California (USC), and its academic…

Targeting a protein found in immune T-cells called Oct1 may help prevent the misguided immune response seen in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), a study shows. Most importantly, a lack of Oct1 does not influence the immune system’s ability to fight viral infections. The study “T cell-selective…

A new radiotracer called [F-18]PBR06, used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, helps detect changes in the brain’s grey matter that are linked to progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study shows. The findings support [F-18]PBR06’s potential for detecting signs of disease progression even before patients show…

Merck KGaA presented new evidence supporting the safety and clinical efficacy of Rebif (interferon beta-1a) for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) at the 5th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), June 29–July 2 in Oslo, Norway. The company, known as EMD Serono in the U.S. and Canada, presented 16…

Arbaclofen extended-release (ER) tablets taken twice a day can effectively reduce spasticity (muscle stiffness) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with similar potency to that of standard and more-frequently-dosed baclofen (brand name Lioresal), Phase 3 clinical trials show. Latest trial data were presented in two posters during the 33rd Annual Meeting…

Treatment with Sanofi Genzyme’s Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for up to two years lowers the levels of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL), a proposed biomarker of nerve damage, in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients to levels comparable to those seen in healthy people, data from the CARE-MS I study shows. Lemtrada’s effectiveness…