myelin

A new study recently published in the journal Science Translational Medicine revealed a key difference in immune T cells between multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy individuals. The study is entitled “Functional inflammatory profiles distinguish myelin-reactive T cells from patients with multiple sclerosis” and…

In a recent publication in Nature, titled “Drug-based modulation of endogenous stem cells promotes functional remyelination in vivo” a team of researchers from Case Western University and Northwestern University screened a library of small molecules to assess their ability to drive the conversion of…

The Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) will initiate a clinical trial of guanabenz in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Guanabenz is FDA-approved for high blood pressure, but it may also prevent myelin loss. The drug could be the first for MS to protect myelin from…

Two already available medications could be used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). In a new study titled, “Drug Based Modulation of Endogenous Stem Cells,” published in the journal Nature on April 20, 2015, scientists report that two drugs could activate stem cells in the brain, possibly repairing MS-induced damage to…

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) recently announced the results of a new study that evaluated an experimental drug for multiple sclerosis (MS) with the potential to repair damaged myelin layers, a fatty material that covers and protects neurons. These findings will be presented at the 67th AAN Annual Meeting,…

National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists may have discovered a critical immune system switch that could affect genes involved in autoimmune diseases. The ground-breaking work, published in the journal Nature, may be useful for developing treatments for autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is characterized by an immune system…

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified new compounds that could protect from multiple sclerosis related damage, based on studies in mice with nervous system damage, mimicking MS. The study appeared in the journal Nature Neuroscience. MS is an autoimmune…

Image credit: Yaming Wang/Bernd Zinselmeyer A new study has shown that a protein called TREM2 may inhibit microglial repair of damaged myelin in multiple sclerosis. The study appeared in the Jan. 29 issue of Acta Neuropathologica. MS is characterized by the degeneration of myelin, a fatty…

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. has released results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of rHIgM22 for multiple sclerosis, showing that the medication is safe and produces few side effects. rHIgM22 is a medication that may induce the re-wrapping of the myelin sheath that surround nerve cells,…

Biogen Idec, a Cambridge Massachusetts Biotechnology company, has released results from its Phase 2 acute optic neuritis (AON) RENEW trial. The trial tested anti-LINGO-1, a medication that restores myelin — a fatty substance that facilitates nerve cell impulses by wrapping around them and providing insulation. The trial results indicate that anti-LINGO-1…

A new study on the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to treat neuroinflammatory and demyelinating disease entitled “SEMA4D compromises blood–brain barrier, activates microglia, and inhibits remyelination in neurodegenerative disease” was published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease by Ernest S. Smith part of…

Researchers have uncovered new information about myelin, a fatty substance that wraps around the axons of brain cells (neurons) allowing them to transmit information quickly from one cell to another. De-myelinating diseases in which the insulating wrap is damaged include multiple sclerosis, in which unpredictable loss of myelin causes…

Researchers from Canada and the U.S. have found that brains of young people with multiple sclerosis fail to develop fully. The article appeared November 5, 2014 in the journal Neurology entitled, “Onset of multiple sclerosis before adulthood leads to failure of age-expected brain growth.” Multiple sclerosis is caused…

A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, along with other collaborators, have identified a drug associated with estrogen, indazole chloride (Ind-Cl), that blocks the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings were reported December 1st in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. MS…

Researchers from the National University of Singapore have found a new type of immune cell that could aid in the development of treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS). The study was published on November 21 in the journal Cell Research entitled, “STAT5 programs a distinct subset of GM-CSF-producing T helper…

In a poster session at the Annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, ENDECE Neural presented pre-clinical results showing their lead drug – NDC-1308 – induces remyelination in mouse models of demyelination disease, such as Multiple Sclerosis. Loss of myelin is the main characteristic of a group…

In a study entitled “Developmental endothelial locus-1 is a homeostatic factor in the central nervous system limiting neuroinflammation and demyelination” the authors report to have found a new protein, Del-1, that reduces the severity of multiple sclerosis disease in a mouse model of the disease. The…

Loss of myelin, the fatty protective sheath around nerve fibers, is a characteristic of multiple sclerosis (MS). A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study by a team of researchers has determined that people with MS lose myelin in the gray matter of their brains, and that the amount of loss…

As researchers continue to develop a clearer understanding of the underlying causes of multiple sclerosis (MS), it is becoming increasingly apparent that the future of treating the disease is likely to center on neural protection and a reversal of the demyelination process that strips away the critical insulation…

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) initiated a clinical trial to evaluate the antihistamine clemastine fumarate, manufactured by Novartis as Tavist, for its efficacy in treating multiple sclerosis patients. The laboratory of Dr. Jonah Chan, a professor of neurology at UCSF, used a high-throughput method to identify Tavist…

Stem therapy to treat multiple sclerosis may benefit greatly from a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by the laboratory of Fraser Sim, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Dr.