A quick MRI-based method called SyMRI may be useful in future clinical trials to test experimental myelin-repairing therapies in diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. The study, “Quantification of individual remyelination during short-term disease course by synthetic magnetic resonance imaging,” was published in Brain…
myelin
Treatment with medrysone, a glucocorticoid approved in the U.S. as a topical treatment for certain inflammatory eye diseases, improved repair of myelin in a mouse model of demyelination, a new study shows. The results suggest medrysone may be a useful treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), which is…
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 ARF6Â can help to stabilize this barrier, a study in mouse models of MS found. Such a treatment…
MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Epstein-Barr, Aqua Exercise, Diagnosing SPMS, Myelin Repair
Epstein-Barr Virus and MS Risk: New Link to Mono Found in Study Add this study to the mounting evidence that there’s some type of association between the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) — the virus associated with mononucleosis — and multiple sclerosis. I’ve never had mono, but several people with…
Baclofen, an approved therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, promoted the repair of myelin — the protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost in MS — in a mouse model of the disease, a study showed. These findings suggest baclofen — sold as oral tablets,…
Pasithea Therapeutics investigational multiple sclerosis vaccine, PAS002, effectively delayed disease onset and reduced disease severity in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative condition, according to data from a preclinical study. The vaccine, which is designed to promote immune tolerance to a specific myelin protein, also reduced the severity…
Two years of treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) outperformed Rebif (interferon beta-1a) at preventing myelin loss in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new analysis of data from the OPERA II clinical trial. Ocrevus’ protection against demyelination was observed both in MS lesions,…
Digoxin, an approved medication for certain heart conditions, promoted the repair of myelin — the protective sheath around nerve fibers that is progressively lost in multiple sclerosis — in mouse models of the disease, a study reports. Combining digoxin with an experimental immune-modulating therapy was more effective at promoting myelin…
A man-made molecule derived from a naturally occurring amino acid was able to promote the repair of the myelin sheath — a fatty coating around nerve fibers that is damaged in multiple sclerosis — in a mouse model of the disease, a new study reports. “These findings suggest that ……
Rune Labs has partnered with Coastal Research Institute (CRI) to identify new and noninvasive biomarkers of the loss of myelin, the fatty sheath surrounding nerve fibers that is progressively damaged by multiple sclerosis (MS). The collaboration involves a patient study that will take advantage of Rune Labs’…
An MRI technique called quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) can be used to accurately identify remyelinated brain lesions in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a research team has discovered. Remyelinated lesions are those in which the myelin sheath — the protective coating around nerve fibers that is progressively lost…
Proteins called tenascins block the regeneration of myelin by modulating the activity of oligodendrocytes, myelin-making cells of the central nervous system, a study in mouse models indicates. “Our research results open up new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis,” Juliane Bauch, a researcher at Ruhr-University…
Unusual growth in an immune cell class called myeloid cells is evident in the bone marrow of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and these cells likely contribute to the inflammation that drives the disease, according to a new study. Experiments in mice suggest that myelin-reactive T-cells can migrate to the bone…
Find Therapeutics and SATT Conectus have joined forces to develop a promising therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) and optic neuritis based on a new class of compounds that shows the potential to regenerate myelin. Myelin is the fatty protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost…
A medication currently approved to treat certain kinds of cancer, called topotecan, could be repurposed for treating neuroinflammatory conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) because it reduces the inflammatory activity of immune cells called microglia. That’s according to the study, “Myeloid cell-specific topoisomerase 1 inhibition using DNA origami…
ABX-002, an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) being developed by Autobahn Therapeutics, promoted the restoration of the myelin sheath in preclinical models of the disease, new data show. The research, which specifically tested an analog of ABX-002 called LL-341070, will be presented by Autobahn’s academic collaborators at…
The experimental therapy XPro1595 was found to promote remyelination — the repair of the myelin sheath — in a mouse model of myelin loss, new data show. Myelin, the fatty covering that helps nerve fibers send electrical signals, is damaged by the immune system in …
Researchers have identified four new brain proteins that are targeted by inflammatory T-cells in multiple sclerosis (MS), which could aid in the development of more specific and safer treatments for people with the condition. The study, “Identification of four novel T cell autoantigens and personal autoreactive profiles in…
The first participant has been enrolled in a new clinical trial that is testing whether an antihistamine in combination with a diabetes medication might promote the repair of the myelin sheath in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial’s first participant, Annabelle, was diagnosed with relapsing MS over a…
Physician-researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in California, are developing brain and eye imaging techniques to improve the diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is characterized by the progressive loss of myelin, the fatty protective sheath around nerve fibers, in the brain and spinal cord due to abnormal…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared a Phase 1b/2a trial of PIPE-307, Pipeline Therapeutics‘ investigational myelin-restoring treatment, in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The trial will enroll about 45 RRMS patients from multiple U.S. sites who will be randomized to receive either three months…
A team of researchers has discovered that the key to bypassing the blood-brain barrier — a semipermeable border that protects the brain against toxins in the blood but also blocks potential treatments — is the Unc5B receptor in the endothelial cells that line the tiny blood vessels in the brain.
PIPE-307, an investigational myelin-restoring medication being developed by Pipeline Therapeutics for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), appears to be safe and well tolerated in healthy adults. The results are from a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT04725175) that evaluated the safety and tolerability of PIPE-307 in 70…
Immune system reaction to casein, a protein in cow’s milk, can trigger an inflammatory neurological disease in mice that’s similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) and includes the loss of myelin, a study reported. “These results identify how consumption of milk and milk products may exacerbate the autoimmune response in…
A matrix protein called fibulin-2, which is increased in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, blocks the activity of oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for making myelin. Blocking this protein may be a promising approach to restore myelin in people with the neurodegenerative disease, a study in mice showed. The data was…
Myelin is required for certain inhibitory neurons — which help to suppress abnormal activity in the brain — to work as they should, according to a study in mouse models. Loss of myelin on these neurons results in excessive electric activity in other nerve cells, likely disrupting the brain’s ability…
A researcher at the University of Adelaide, in Australia, has received an AU$390,000 grant (about $280,000) to investigate how inflammatory T-cells reach the blood and brain of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The 3-year fellowship grant was awarded to Iain Comerford, PhD, for his project, titled “Stopping T cells…
Therapeutics designed to produce new oligodendrocytes — the cells responsible for the protective myelin sheath that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) — might be the most effective approach for disorders such as MS, according to a study conducted in a fish model. That’s because oligodendrocytes that survive being…
Blood Stem Cell Transplant May Help Immune System Longer I’m a proponent of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) to treat MS. The process entails extracting a patient’s own stem cells, usually from the bone marrow, treating them to kill immune cells that trigger MS attacks, and then infusing…
Pasithea Therapeutics announced plans to develop a tolerizing vaccine that would treat multiple sclerosis (MS) by “training” the immune system in ways that prevent its damaging attacks. The vaccine will be developed under Pasithea’s new chemical entity development program for MS in collaboration with Hooke…