MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Stem Cells, Home Infusions, Hippocampus

FDA Greenlights Stem Cells Trial Aiming to Improve Quality of Life

I’m pleased every time I see stem cell research being approved. Hopefully, this will move us closer to approval in the U.S. for the use of stem cells as a treatment for MS. In this research, patients are being given six infusions, each with about 200 million mesenchymal stem cells taken from the patients’ fat tissue. Unlike other stem cell procedures, however, this one doesn’t involve suppressing the immune system, which presumably lessens its risk.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light to a Phase 2 clinical trial that will assess the efficacy of using adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to treat the symptoms of mild to moderate multiple sclerosis (MS).

The nonprofit Hope Biosciences Stem Cell Research Foundation (HBSCRF), which received the FDA authorization, believes such stem cell treatments may work to improve the quality of life of people with the neurodegenerative disease.

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At-home Tysabri Infusions Appear as Safe, Effective as Those at Clinics

In this study, a small number of MS patients receive three infusions at their regular infusion center and three in their homes. Unsurprisingly to me, these patients reported feeling more satisfied with the convenience of at-home infusions, plus the in-home infusions were less expensive. The patients kept to their treatment schedule at both locations, and no serious problems were reported.

I was treated with Tysabri for seven years, and I would have preferred to have received my infusions at home. On the other hand, I felt a great sense of security having them done in a medical facility (at my neurologist’s office) because several medical professionals were right there in case of a serious problem with my infusion.

Tysabri (natalizumab) infusions given in the home to people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) save money and are more convenient, while apparently as safe and effective as those given in clinical settings, a pilot study comparing the two delivery methods reported.

Nonetheless, its researchers recommended larger trials be conducted to verify these findings, particularly in managing side effects due to drug hypersensitivity while at home.

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Gray Matter in Hippocampus Can Help Distinguish Between Two MS Types

Relapsing MS tends to be characterized by nerve inflammation. Progressive MS, on the other hand, is usually characterized by nerve death and damage. An early determination of which is occurring might allow a neurologist to select an appropriate treatment earlier in course of the disease. These researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to see if they could find differences in the brain’s gray matter that would indicate which disease course was being followed in these patients.

Subtle changes in structure in the hippocampus — a region of the brain involved in processing memories — can differentiate between relapsing-remitting and primary progressive multiple sclerosis, according to a new study.

The study, “Unraveling the MRI-Based Microstructural Signatures Behind Primary Progressive and Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Phenotypes,” was published in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

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