News Brain-specific B Cells’ Reactivity Determines Glatiramer Acetate Therapy Success in MS Patients Brain-specific B Cells’ Reactivity Determines Glatiramer Acetate Therapy Success in MS Patients by Patricia Inacio, PhD | September 24, 2015 Share this article: Share article via email Copy article link In a new study entitled āThe brain antigen-specific B cell response correlates with glatiramer acetate responsiveness in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients,āĀ a team of scientists discovered that differences in response toĀ glatiramer acetate therapy among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is potentially dependent on the presence of reactive brain-specific B cells in the patient’s blood. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. MS is a chronic autoimmune diseaseĀ where the patient’s own immune system attacksĀ myelin, a component of nerve fibers that are part of the central nervous system. The disease is characterized by an initial inflammatory response that precedes demyelination and degeneration of nerve cells. MS has no cure and currently affects more than 2.3 million people in the world. The role of B cells, a type of white blood cell and a key player inĀ humoralĀ immunity (antibody-mediated immunity), in the pathology of MS remains largely unaddressed. As observed inĀ previous findings, the researchers discovered that MS patients exhibitedĀ a brain-reactive B cell response in the blood. However, they alsoĀ found that the presence of brain-specific B cells is crucial for patientsā responses to glatiramer acetate (GA) therapy in relapsing-remitting MS patients. GA is approved as a first-line immunotherapy currently used in MS, and although its mechanisms of action are unclear, it is thought to act by inhibiting the targeted immune response against myelin. This mechanism of action may occur due to its resemblance toĀ the myelin protein, acting as a decoy to divert the autoimmune response away from myelin. RELATED:Ā Mitochondria May Play a Role in MS Development and Progression The research team identified two subsets of MS patients, those whoĀ respond to GA therapy and those whoĀ do not. Most importantly, they discovered that MS patients harboring B cells that are responsive to brain antigens in the blood benefit the most from GA therapy. These findings support the theoryĀ that MS exhibits a heterogeneous immunopathology, suggestingĀ that GA therapy has an impact on brain-reactive B cells in a specific group of patients and that only this group benefits from GA treatment. These findings may lead to theĀ developmentĀ of future biomarkers that will help differentiate between treatment responders and non-responders in MS patientsā populations. Print This Page About the Author Patricia Inacio, PhD Patricia holds her PhD in cell biology from the University Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, 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 Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York, for which she was awarded a Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) fellowship. Tags autoimmune disease, B-cells, central nervous system, immunotherapy, myelin
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