News

Researchers identified the chloride-channel protein anoctamin 2 (ANO2) as a new target for autoantibody production in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Their study, “Anoctamin 2 identified as an autoimmune target in multiple sclerosis,” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Sates of…

In an innovative research project funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Dr. Anne Astier from the University of Edinburgh, U.K., and her team will use zebrafish to track the CD46 protein and determine where and how it affects the movement of immune cells into the brain, a process believed to influence…

Wearable robotic exoskeletons may soon help people with advanced multiple sclerosis (MS) walk more efficiently and confidently again. Exoskeleton technology reduces the amount of energy and muscle exertion needed to initiate and control the process of walking, according to research presented last week at the Association for Academic Physiatrists (AAP)…

Researchers at the University of Northampton’s Radon and Natural Radioactivity Research Group (RNRRG) developed a methodology to study whether radon gas, an invisible and radioactive gas known to cause lung cancer, might be a contributing factor in multiple sclerosis. They concluded that the link between the two was weak and not statistically significant.

Dr. Andrew Goodman of the University of Rochester discussed the latest research and perspectives on stem cell strategies for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), saying in a presentation at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2016 that such therapies, while promising, are not yet ready for widespread clinical use. New therapies…

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore presented key findings today, Feb. 19, concerning the presence of contrast-enhancing lesions in later stages in the relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) model. The presentation was made at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2016, which is ongoing through…

Dr. Timothy Coetzee from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society will present an overview of the objectives and achievements of the International Progressive MS Alliance (PMSA), an organization dedicated to facilitating and funding research on progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), a form of MS especially lacking effective therapeutic options. Coetzee…

Dr. Daniel S. Reich with Johns Hopkins University  is giving an oral talk on “MRI as an Outcome Measure in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis” at Friday’s ACTRIMS Forum 2016. This year’s meeting focuses on progressive MS, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 20, in New Orleans. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been the…

Dr. Wayne Moore, from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver General Hospital, will present an overview and analysis of the major histology and pathology aspects that characterize and differentiate relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and progressive forms of the disease, primary progressive MS (PPMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS).

At the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2016, being held from Feb. 18–20 in New Orleans, LA, researchers have gathered to discuss “Progressive MS: Bench to Bedside and Back,” the meeting’s theme. Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is one of four types of MS, and is…

Researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center plan to present the results of a study investigating the contribution of specific antibodies to the neurodegeneration and neuronal dysfunction observed in multiple sclerosis (MS). The study’s results are to be reported today, Feb. 18, at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research…

Brian M. Sandroff from the Kessler Foundation and Robert W. Mot with the University of Illinois will present the results of a study on the effects of exercise in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) today, Feb.18, at the Americas Committee for the Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS)…

Scientists from the Neuroimmunological Diseases Unit at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will present results of a study investigating several biomarkers that might lead to a more sensitive and accurate diagnostic test of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation, a key aspect of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The data is being reported today, Feb.18, at the…

The Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2016 starts today, Feb. 18, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 20. The opening day’s Session 1, titled “Emerging Concepts in MS,” places special focus on cutting-edge studies on the pathogenic mechanisms in multiple sclerosis (MS), new measures of…

Anavex Life Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new therapies for neurodegenerative and central nervous system (CNS) diseases, among others, recently announced the presentation of preclinical data for one of its lead drug candidates, ANAVEX2-73, as a multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment. The preclinical study’s lead investigator, Dr.

The U.S. Senate health committee recently passed the “Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act of 2015” (S. 849), sponsored by Sens. Johnny Isakson and Chris Murphy, which would create a nationwide system to track the incidence and prevalence of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), and that one day might help lead to a…

Genentech recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted its investigational medicine ocrelizumab, a potential treatment for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), Breakthrough Therapy Designation based on positive Phase 3 clinical trial results showing that ocrelizumab significantly reduced disability progression and other disease activity markers compared to placebo. The FDA designation is…

The European Medicines Agency Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), responsible for assessing and monitoring safety issues for human medicines, completed a review on the risk for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with the medicine Tysabri (natalizumab). The issued guidelines have the objective of minimizing patients’ risk.

A new study underscores the variability of immune responses in different people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and suggests this heterogenity affects responses to the commonly prescribed MS medication interferon-β, but blood biomarkers may exist that can help to determine those most likely to benefit from such treatment. The study, “Cytokine profiles…

The first standalone forum held by the Madison, Wisconsin-based Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) gets underway  Thursday, Feb. 18, and runs through Feb. 20 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The forum, “Progressive MS: From Bench to Bedside and Back,” is at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans at…

A new  multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trial being led by Case Western Reserve University investigators is now recruiting 215 individuals, across 10 U.S. states to assess whether the fatigue management and physical activity interventions often provided by rehabilitation centers can effectively be offered by telehealth, through a series of teleconferences and phone interviews. An National MS…

A new campaign called “End our pain” is asking people to sign a petition calling on the U.K. to allow all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) there to have access to medical cannabis as a treatment for MS symptoms, in keeping with countries  such as Canada and Germany, and a number…

A Spanish study showed that relapse and remission in multiple sclerosis (MS) states are regulated by small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) molecules in patterns differing between men and women. Scientists have increasingly realized that sncRNAs play an important role in the regulation of gene expression. Various kinds of these RNA molecules, such as…

The Co-Pay Relief program offered through the Patient Advocate Foundation has added a new financial assistance fund to its collection of resources for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The new fund is now available to financially eligible MS patients with health insurance coverage to support the costs of necessary treatment medicines. “Our case management department has been…

RedHill Biopharma, Ltd., an Israeli biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of oral-administered small-molecule medicines for the treatment of inflammatory and gastrointestinal diseases, recently announced it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a new patent covering its…

When Microsoft rolled out its original Kinect system for playing Xbox video games in November 2010, the technology caught the eye of giant multinational healthcare company Novartis. A longstanding research challenge for Novartis has been to devise and design more consistent methods of quantifying whether multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments…

TNF-α blocking drugs, such as infliximab, surprised investigators when their use in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) actually triggered demyelination. In a case report published in the journal Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers reviewed an aggressive demyelinating event in a non-MS patient treated with TNF-α blockers. TNF-α blockers…

A research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) launched a study on people at risk for developing multiple sclerosis (MS), a debilitating disease that affects more than 400,000 people in the United States and about…

Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers reported that antibodies directed at lipids are associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain degeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and may potentially serve as biomarkers for monitoring disease status. While the hyperintense brain lesions detected by MRI are crucial for diagnosis and therapeutic…

Taste deficits are considerably more prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients than previously thought, and correlate directly with the severity of MS-related brain lesions, researchers report in an article titled “Taste dysfunction in multiple sclerosis,” published in the Journal of Neurology. Sensory problems are common MS symptoms, with…