central nervous system

The protective barrier that prevents cells and large molecules from crossing into the central nervous system (CNS) is known to be unusually “leaky” in multiple sclerosis (MS), but targeting a protein called ARF6 can help to stabilize this barrier, a study in mouse models of MS found. Such a treatment…

Calyx and Qynapse have joined forces to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based neuroimaging tools in clinical trials of treatment candidates for conditions affecting the central nervous system (CNS), or the brain and spinal cord. This is expected to help advance therapy development for multiple sclerosis…

Cresence AS has sold its epidermal growth factor (EGF) platform comprising investigational therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases to Bioasis Technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, Bioasis will own all intellectual property related to the EGF platform. In exchange, it will issue…

You may have heard about the research that’s just been published about the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and multiple sclerosis (MS). The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study reports that being infected by EBV raises the risk of developing MS by 32 times. This isn’t a small or…

Did you know that there are various types of fatigue, and each makes us feel slightly different than the others? A long while ago, I was at an MS seminar listening to a nurse talk about fatigue. She…

A recently identified group of immune cells saved damaged nerve cells from death and promoted nervous system repair, a new study suggests. This finding may represent new promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study, “A new neutrophil…

Before signs of neurodegeneration in the brain and spinal cord are evident in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) — which resembles human multiple sclerosis (MS) — signs can first be found in the network of nerves innervating the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a study reports. Additional research is needed…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance for QyScore, a cloud-based imaging software for the automated quantification of key magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of central nervous system (CNS) disease. MRI is an important tool for diagnosing multiple sclerosis and other CNS disorders. By…

Scientists discovered new interaction between immune cells from the central nervous system (CNS) — consisting of the brain and spinal cord — and immune cells from the blood that may lead to new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological diseases.

Stopping the migration of immune B-cells through the blood-brain barrier by blocking ALCAM, a molecule linked to the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), lessened disease severity in an MS mouse model, a new study shows. Details of the discovery were reported…

The joys of MS are never-ending. One area that gets disrupted by this disease of the central nervous system is our pelvic regions. That affects bladder, bowel, and sexual function. I’ve written about all of this in previous columns. My bladder failed less than two years after I…

Gut microbes prime immune cells called microglia to protect the brain and nervous system from neurological damage due to viral infections, according to new research in mice. The findings suggest that maintaining a healthy and diverse microbiota — the population of bacteria, fungi, and viruses within the body, especially the…

The first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2B clinical trial evaluating the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of SAR442168 in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). SAR442168, formerly known as PRN2246, is being developed by Principia Biopharma, in collaboration with Sanofi Genzyme, for MS and other central nervous…

Previously unknown immune cell subtypes are present in the inflamed brain of mice models of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reports. According to the researchers, these subsets of myeloid cells (cells derived from hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow) can offer a strong basis for therapeutic targets in neuroinflammatory and…

The RhoE protein has been identified as being important for axons’  myelination and extension in the central nervous system, two processes that go awry in diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings stem from Pilar Madrigal’s doctoral thesis, “Role of the small GTPase RhoE in myelination and axonal tracts development.”…

Non-viral vehicles, called niosomes, can deliver DNA to glial cells in the central nervous system, a new study shows. The findings open new avenues for gene therapy and the treatment of neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The study “Non-viral vectors based on cationic niosomes as efficient gene delivery…

The synthesis and metabolism of fat molecules known as ceramides is linked to G-CSF signaling, which increases white blood cell infiltration into the central nervous system and results in inflammation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. The study titled, “The relevance of ceramides and their…

Researchers have created a detailed map of the mouse nervous system, including the location of the many diverse cell types in the brain, in the largest study yet of the makeup of the mammalian nervous system.  The new map could provide new clues about the origin of neurological…

Reprogramming skin cells into brain stem cells, then transplanting them into the central nervous system may reduce inflammation and reverse the nerve cell damage in progressive multiple sclerosis, a mouse study shows. Scientists have dubbed macrophages the immune system's big eaters because they engulf abnormal cells like cancer in addition to invaders like viruses and bacteria. Special classes of macrophages live in a number of organs, including the brain and spinal cord, where they’re called microglia. Although they protect the body, microglia can participate in the development of progressive forms of MS by attacking the central nervous system, causing nerve cell damage. MS is an autoimmune disease, or one in which the immune system can attack healthy tissue besides invaders. Recent studies have suggested that neural stem cells, which have the capacity to differentiate into any type of nerve cell, can regulate immune response and inflammation in the central nervous system. At one point, researchers obtained neural stem cells from embryos. But this technique generated only a fraction of the cells needed for treatments. Meanwhile, doctors have tried to avoid collecting stem cells from someone with a different genetic profile than the patient because this increases the risk that the immune system will attack them once they're transplanted. University of Cambridge scientists decided to try reprogramming skin cells into neural stem cells. The idea behind the mouse study was that using skin cells from the same person who will receive the stem cells will reduce the chance that the immune system will attack the stem cells. In the mouse study, the team discovered a link between higher than normal levels of a small metabolite, called succinate, and chronic MS. The metabolite prompts macrophages and microglia to generate inflammation in the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord. Transplanting neural stem cells and progenitors of these stem cells into the cerebrospinal fluid of mice improved the animals' chronic nerve cell inflammation. The stem cells reduced the animals' succinate levels and switched their macrophages and microglia from a pro- to an anti-inflammatory state. This led to a decrease in inflammation and less damage to the central nervous system. “Our mouse study suggests that using a patient’s reprogrammed cells could provide a route to personalized treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, including progressive forms of MS,” Stefano Pluchino, a principal researcher in Cambridge's Department of Clinical Neurosciences, said in a press release. “This is particularly promising as these cells should be more readily obtainable than conventional neural stem cells and would not carry the risk of an adverse immune response,” said Pluchino, the study's lead author. Luca Peruzzotti-Jametti, a Wellcome Trust research training fellow, said the discovery would not have been possible without a multidisciplinary collaboration. “We made this discovery by bringing together researchers from diverse fields, including regenerative medicine, cancer, mitochondrial biology, inflammation and stroke, and cellular reprogramming."

A substance that the pancreas secretes can promote the regeneration of the protective nerve-cell coating that is damaged in multiple sclerosis, a mouse study shows. The substance is fibroblast growth factor 21, or FGF21. It promotes remyelination, the renewal of the myelin sheath protecting the central nervous system, according to the…

Mothers with chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, have a higher risk of having children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a Norwegian study. The findings were reported in a study titled “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Offspring of Mothers With Inflammatory and Immune System Diseases”…

Scientists have identified a receptor that promotes the influx of damaging immune T-cells into the brain of a mouse model of human multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, “EBI2 is highly expressed in multiple sclerosis lesions and promotes early CNS migration of encephalitogenic CD4 T cells,” appeared in the…

The MS Society in the United Kingdom awarded £177,930 (about $217,800) to Dr. Sassan Hafizi, a researcher at University of Portsmouth, to investigate the potentially beneficial role of a central nervous system molecule, called Gas6, in repairing the myelin damage seen in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) . Hafizi and Dr. Arthur…

Researchers reported that patients with myelitis who later develop multiple sclerosis (MS) might be distinguished from others with myelitis by a number of characteristics, like the location and size of spinal cord lesions, a finding that might help clinicians diagnose MS and initiate treatment at an early stage. Myelitis, an…

In a recent study entitled “Promotion of Remyelination by Sulfasalazine in a Transgenic Zebrafish Model of Demyelination,” researchers investigated whether sulfasalazine treatment, an anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating drug, could promote remyelination of axons in an organism model of demyelination diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The study was published in the…

In a new article published in the journal Trends in Biotechnology, Korean researchers suggest that diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) might be better studied using compact, accessible chip technology than in current methods. The report, titled “Central Nervous System and its Disease…

In a new study entitled “The brain antigen-specific B cell response correlates with glatiramer acetate responsiveness in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients,” a team of scientists discovered that differences in response to glatiramer acetate therapy among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is potentially dependent on the presence of reactive brain-specific B…