There’s a story I love to tell about my dad, a retail warrior with more than 30 years of experience under his belt. And it’s one that I think is apropos for those of us dealing with multiple sclerosis. Back in the 1980s when he was a department manager…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by “Newly Diagnosed MS Patients Show Changes in Gut Microbiome, Study Says,” from Dec. 3, 2019.

BioMed X announced a new collaboration with Merck to create a joint research group to investigate the role of the intestinal epithelial barrier in the development and progression of autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The intestinal epithelial barrier is a physical border between the gut and the rest…

New Trial Compares Stem Cell Treatment to Available Therapies for Severe Relapsing MS This is a biggie. The U.S. National Institutes of Health is conducting a head to head study comparing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) to the high-efficacy, disease-modifying therapies currently being used: Tysabri, Lemtrada, Ocrevus, and…

Probiotics show potential to prevent and delay the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) by changing immune and inflammatory responses, according to a review study. Data further support the link between the gut’s microbial community (microbiota) and the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and neurodegenerative diseases. However, large-scale clinical…

A genetic variant in the galanin gene (GAL) appears to be a risk factor for more severe multiple sclerosis (MS), nearly doubling the risk of rapidly progressive disease, particularly in patients whose disease onset occurs…

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…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Is it the summer or winter weather that impacts your MS the most?”…

ExeGi Pharma announced a new clinical trial testing its probiotic Visbiome in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study will further evaluate whether changing bacteria in the gut could be therapeutically beneficial in MS. The human body hosts millions upon millions of bacterial guests, the majority of which…

“Diet is profound. Lifestyle is profound. All patients should be taught how profound these things are.”  — Terry Wahls, MS thriver and founder of the Wahls Protocol  Western medicine has long approached multiple sclerosis (MS) and autoimmune disorders through traditional methods. While there have been…

Scientists at the University of Huddersfield, U.K., are trying to develop a breath test to detect volatile molecules exhaled only by people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Doing so might offer a non-invasive and simple way to diagnose the disease. The research team now plans to undertake…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “How the Blood Brain Barrier May Thwart MS Progression” from Feb. 9, 2017. What…

In partnership with @Point of Care, the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) is offering a comprehensive educational video series about multiple sclerosis (MS). The concise, 12-part series — titled “Understanding Multiple Sclerosis” —  features neurologist and MS expert Michelle T. Fabian, MD, and covers…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has recently awarded $24.4 million in grants to support 64 research projects on multiple sclerosis (MS) worldwide, including $750,000 to fund 14 high-risk, high-reward pilot projects that will test new ideas and seek answers to new and relevant questions. According to a society…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has granted $24.4 million to fund 64 multiple sclerosis (MS) research projects and training fellowships worldwide. This is the latest funding initiative by the Society, which is planning to invest a total of $35 million in 2019 to support 340 MS studies ongoing across…

I recently came across the article “Review of Two Popular Eating Plans within the Multiple Sclerosis Community: Low Saturated Fat and Modified Paleolithic,” published in the journal Nutrients, which compared the efficacy of the Swank diet and…

Increased production of an anti-inflammatory molecule called interleukin (IL)-10, and suppression of a subtype of immune T-cells, may mean that a fatty acid called pentanoate is effective against inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research in mice. The study, “The…

Treating multiple sclerosis with Tecfidera induces specific genetic alterations that may reduce the levels of immune T-cells targeting the central nervous system, researchers report. Environmental stimuli may induce epigenetic changes in cells — meaning not alterations in the genes themselves, but changes in gene expression (the process by which information in a gene is synthesized to create a working product, like a protein). Epigenetic changes may induce MS development, as these alterations can cause T-cells to attack the central nervous system. One type of epigenetic change is DNA demethylation, the removal of methyl chemical groups, in which molecules involved in metabolism (such as fumarate) interact with enzymes known as DNA demethylases. This process in key for T-cell activation, function and memory, suggesting that it could be an immunomodulatory target. Fumaric acid esters were shown to be effective in MS clinical trials, leading to the approval of Tecfidera (by Biogen) for people with relapsing-remitting forms of the disease. However, their complete mechanism of action remains unclear. Aiming to address this gap, scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, recruited 98 MS patients, either previously untreated (47 people, mean age of 38.4), treated with Tecfidera (35 people, mean age of 42.3), or treated with glatiramer acetate (16 patients, mean age of 43.4) — marketed as Copaxone by Teva Pharmaceuticals, with generic forms by Sandoz (as Glatopa) and by Mylan. All patients had stable disease for at least three months, but disease duration was shortest in untreated patients — 40.4 months vs. 130 months in those given Tecfidera, and 100 months in patients using glatiramer acetate. Blood samples were collected from each participant to assess epigenetic changes in T-cells expressing the cell surface marker CD4. MS patients typically have an activated form of these cells in their blood and cerebrospinal fluid, the liquid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Results revealed that, compared to the other two groups, treatment with Tecfidera was associated with a lower percentage of T-cells containing the CD3, CD4, and CD8 markers, as well as lower levels of subsets of T-cells expressing the CCR4 and CCR6 receptors, which are critical to T-cell migration to the gut, brain, and skin. Treatment with glatiramer acetate resulted in significantly milder alterations in T-cell percentages compared to no treatment. Researchers then found that FAEs induce excessive methylation — the addition of methyl groups — in T-cells containing CD4, compared to glatiramer acetate. Specifically, this overmethylation was observed in a micro-RNA — tiny RNA molecules than control gene expression — known as miR-21, key for the differentiation of a subset of T-cells called T helper-17 (Th17) cells and for CCR6 expression in MS mouse models. These Th17 cells are critical in tissue inflammation and destruction, and have been implicated in MS. The epigenetic effects of FAEs were subsequently validated by comparing pre- to post-treatment with Tecfidera in seven patients. In turn, in vitro (lab dish) experiments showed that FAEs act specifically on the activation of naïve T-cells — those able to respond to new pathogens to the immune system — containing the CD4 or the CD8 markers. Of note, patients with MS have shown increased miR-21 levels, particularly during acute relapses. As such, the team hypothesized that its hypermethylation by FAEs could contribute to remission and the prevention of relapses in this patient population. These results "suggest that the metabolic-epigenetic interplay in T-cells could be harnessed for therapeutic purposes," the researchers wrote, and that the immunomodulatory effect of FAEs in MS is due at least in part to the epigenetic regulation of T-cells. The researchers believe that their findings have a broader implication, beyond MS. "Our findings about therapeutically active metabolites have implications for the treatment of not only multiple sclerosis but also other autoimmune diseases, such as psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease, which involve the same type of T-cells," Achilles Ntranos, the study’s lead author, said in a press release. "Understanding the epigenetic effect of metabolites on the immune system will help us develop several novel strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, which could help patients and physicians achieve better clinical outcomes," Ntranos added. Patrizia Casaccia, the study’s senior author, concluded: "It may one day be possible to target and suppress production of the specific brain-homing T-cells that play a role in the development of MS."

Playing Billy Beane in “Moneyball,” Brad Pitt utters the now famous line, “Adapt or die.” (Warning: The scene linked here has a few naughty words in it.) He’s referencing the use of statistics to create a better baseball team, but I think the saying is true to most…

A daily cup of flavonoid-rich cocoa may help ease fatigue in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to the results of a small clinical trial. The study “A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled feasibility trial of flavonoid-rich cocoa for fatigue in people with relapsing and remitting multiple sclerosis” was…

Drinking about 290 calories of sugar-sweetened beverages — the equivalent of about two cans of non-diet soda — per day may be associated with a higher level of disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), compared to those who seldom consume such beverages, according to a preliminary study. The…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients eat a more limited diet, with a lower average of 31 nutrients, including zinc, thiamin, and iron, when compared with healthy controls, a study shows. Blood tests also showed that MS patients had significantly lower iron levels, a different fatty acid composition in their red blood…

“I’m alive,” said Shadow. “I’m not dead. Remember?” “You’re not dead,” Laura said. “But I’m not sure you’re alive, either. Not really.” This snippet of a longer conversation in Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” is a strange and wonderful moment in the book — and not only because Laura…

Treating a common animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS) with a typhoid vaccine eased disease symptoms by prompting T helper cells to stop production of a pro-inflammatory factor — interleukin (IL)-17 — and by promoting greater numbers of anti-inflammatory  regulatory T-cells, researchers report. Their study, “Targeting prohibitins at the…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question was inspired by the forum topic “Do you know any natural remedies that help fight inflammation?“, from May…

Treatment with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) led to a sustained decrease in disability and almost no clinical relapses in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who had failed to respond to prior immunosuppressive therapies, an Australian Phase 2 trial shows. Trial findings were published in the study, “Prospective phase…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who reported food allergies showed a 27 percent higher cumulative rate of flare-ups over the course of their disease, and more than twice the likelihood of having active inflammatory lesions, a new study shows. The study, “Food Allergies are Associated with Increased Disease Activity…

When I first met Stephanie in March, she was like any healthy 28-year-old coming in to see me for a nutrition consult. Her positive attitude and bright smile filled the room as she told me about her job as a grade school teacher and the new apartment she…

By now you may have heard that actress Selma Blair has revealed that she has multiple sclerosis (MS). That took a lot of guts. Those of us who share her diagnosis might learn a few things from what she’s shared and how she’s shared it. Blair may be…

A person’s genes influence the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), but so does the environment — both that in which an MS patient lives, and that which a patient creates through diet and other lifestyle choices, researchers said in a Thursday session at the 34th congress of the European…