October 25, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Stem Cells from MS, Parkinson’s Patients Voyaging to Space Station to Study Disease Impact on Brain in Microgravity Stem cellsĀ from patients with Parkinsonās diseaseĀ and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) are soon to voyage into space, and be brought aboard the International Space Station so cell-to-cell interactions in these neurodegenerative diseases can be studied withoutĀ gravitational forces acting on them. This research project, proposed to launch in May…
August 31, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Cell-free Mitochondrial DNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Progressive MS Patients May Point to Neurodegeneration Cerebrospinal fluid of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients may carry lower levels of cell-free mitochondrial DNA, according to a team of researchers who say this may be a sign ofĀ neurodegeneration among these patients. The study āCell-free mitochondrial DNA in progressive multiple sclerosisā was published in the journal Mitochondrion.
December 7, 2017 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Advances in MRI Readings My neurologist orders an annual MRI to see if any major changes have occurred, and last year my imaging included NeuroQuant software. NeuroQuant is still relatively unknown in the multiple sclerosis patient community. It is a measuring software that gives us real numbers we can comprehend instead of subjective…
October 30, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #MSParis2017 – Trial to See if Disease-modifying Therapies Not Necessary in Older MS Patients A clinical study now enrolling people with progressive or relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) will examine the feasibility of older patients stopping use of disease-modifying therapies if they have had no relapses for a number of years. John Corboy,Ā with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, presented the study at…
September 21, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Disarm Therapeutics to Begin Developing Therapy that Prevents Axonal Degeneration Disarm Therapeutics has completed the first round of financing to develop a compound that prevents axonal degeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative conditions. The treatment approach is based on an earlier discovery at Washington University in St. Louis, showing that the enzyme SARM1…
June 29, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Problems with Sense of Smell Are Worse in Primary Progressive MS Than Relapsing-Remitting Form, Study Reports Problems with sense of smell are more frequent and severe in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) than in those with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a study reports. The research, āOlfactory dysfunction in patients with primary progressive MS,ā was published in the journal Neurology: Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation. A distinguishing feature of RRMS, the most common form of the disease, is attacks of new or increasing neurologic symptoms, such as movement disorders, and then recovery periods. About 15 percent of patients have the primary progressive form, or PPMS. Its main feature is gradually increasing neurologic disability without recovery periods. Some scientists believe PPMS is a less inflammatory course of MS. The differences in the processes that underlie each form are not well understood, however. Several researchers think that studying differences in the two groups' ability to smell ā or olfactory dysfunction ā could shed light on these underlying processes. Autopsies of MS patients in one study showed that 71 percent had experienced demyelination, or loss of neurons, in the brain's olfactory pathway. The processes that led to this dysfunction were unclear, however. Researchers decided to test the hypothesis that olfactory impairment is more pronounced in patients with PPMS than RRMS. The team examined 32 patients with PPMS, 32 with RRMS, and 32 healthy controls. The yardstick they used to evaluate sense of smell was the olfactory Threshold Discrimination Identification (TDI) Test. It involves patients smelling 48 sniffin' sticks. In addition to an overall TDI, there were subscores on olfactory threshold, odor identification and odor discrimination. Olfactory threshold refers to the lowest concentration of an odor that a person can detect. Researchers found olfactory dysfunction in 27, or 84 percent, of the PPMS patients; 10, or 31 percent, of the RRMS patients; and 1, or 3 percent, of the healthy controls. The TDI score and all subscores were significantly worse in patients with PPMS than in the controls, when considering patients of similar age and the same sex. The TDI score was also worse in PPMS patients than in the RRMS group, after adjusting for age, sex, MS disability level, the length of time patients had the disease, and patients' ability to identify and discriminate among odors. Researchers acknowledged limitations to the study. One was the small size of the groups in the research. Another was not using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to measure olfactory pathway deterioration. Comparing the brain's olfactory pathway region with other brain regions in both the RRMS and PPMS groups could have shed light on the processes underlying the olfactory dysfunction differences between the two, researchers said. āThe findings suggest that olfactory dysfunction might be a surrogate of neurodegeneration in these patients," the researchers wrote. "Studies correlating olfactory function with radiologic and clinical markers of disease progression would be of interest.ā
May 2, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Two Proteins Play Key Roles in Regulating Brain Inflammation, MS-related Study Shows Neuroinflammation is an essential process in the development and progression of several neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimerās and Parkinsonās. Researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have discovered that proteins known as NLRC4 and NLRP3 play key roles in regulating mechanisms involved in brain…
January 23, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Astrocytes Can Turn Aggressive and Kill Neurons, Potentially Groundbreaking Study Says In what may be one of the most significant discoveries in neurodegenerative disease, researchersĀ have found that brain cells, called astrocytes, contribute to killing neurons and myelin-forming oligodendrocyte cells, which may drive neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Experiments indicate an aggressive astrocyte type kills cells by secreting a yet-unidentified…
October 14, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Selective Manipulation of Specific Receptors May Pave Way for New MS Therapies Mouse experiments with compounds having opposite actions on two receptors for TNF (tumor necrosis factor) ā a key factor in neurodegeneration ā explains why earlier trials of TNF blockers in multiple sclerosis (MS) went wrong, and paves the wayĀ for more selective drugs targeting the system to stop MS neurodegeneration. The…
September 19, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – Antioxidant Lipoic Acid Appears to Slow SPMS Patients’ Neurodegeneration A pilot study exploring the antioxidant lipoic acid in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) demonstrated that treatment for two years reduced the speed of brain tissue loss and improved the patients’ walking speed. The surprising finding was presented during the āNew directions in progressive MS researchā…
September 16, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – Eye Imaging Tools May Help Predict 5- or 10-Year MS Disability Two presentations at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) 2016 Congress,Ā now underwayĀ in London, underscored the value of measures of neurodegeneration in the eye in predicting a patient’s futureĀ disability. Peter Calabresi with theĀ Johns Hopkins School of MedicineĀ opened the session with the presentation,Ā āTools for…
July 20, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Study That May Benefit MS Patients Awarded Grant from National Stem Cell Foundation A research project that aims to explore how astrocytes can be manipulated to stop or prevent neurodegeneration has received a grant from the National Stem Cell Foundation (NSCF). The projectĀ will be conducted by the The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute. TheĀ work developed by Dr. Valentina…
June 28, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Progression May Be Tied to Workings of Immune Complement System in Brain Lesions The complement system, a part of our non-adaptable (innate) immune defenses,Ā is activated in lesions inside the brainās gray matter and may well contribute to the relentless progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers report. The findings offer newĀ insights into mechanisms driving the development of this disease ā particularly itsĀ primary progressive forms.
June 21, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD GeneFo Partners with MitoQ to Offer Energy Supplement at Discount to MS Community GeneFo, a social-medical community that connects patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and offers free in-house medical consulting, recently announced a partnershipĀ withĀ MitoQ, a New Zealand-based company focused on mitochondrial health. MitoQ is a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant supplement thatĀ mayĀ help to alleviate common symptomsĀ in MS. MS, a chronic disease of the central…
March 21, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc CONy16: MS Researchers Question Possible Long-term Benefits of Remyelination Therapies Multiple sclerosis was a main focus at the four-dayĀ 10thĀ World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy), inĀ Lisbon, Portugal, that concluded on March 20. Among the topics of debate was demyelination as the disease’s main pathogenic precursor and the clinical potential of remyelination. The debate, titledĀ āCan we expect long-term…
March 21, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD CONy16: Should RRMS Disease-Modifying Drugs Be Used to Treat Secondary Progressive MS? A majorĀ dilemma facing clinicians is whether to continue treatment withĀ disease-modifying drugs, effective in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), as the disease progresses to secondary progressive MS (SPMS). In SPMS, Ā these treatments seem to lose their benefits and ā as they areĀ often associated with severe side effects and high costs ā clinicians…
February 18, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc Effects of Specific Antibodies on MS Neurodegeneration to Be Presented at ACTRIMS Forum Researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science CenterĀ plan toĀ present the results of a study investigating the contribution of specific antibodies to the neurodegeneration and neuronal dysfunction observed in multiple sclerosis (MS). The studyās results are to be reported today, Feb. 18, at theĀ Americas Committee for Treatment and Research…
April 6, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Central Immune System Component Found to be Related to MS Neurodegeneration, Clinical Disability A recentĀ study published inĀ PLOS ONEĀ provides new insights into the relationship between the immune system and neurodegeneration and clinical disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). A team of researchers led by Dr.Ā Shahin Aeinehband from theĀ Neuroimmunology Unit at theĀ Karolinska Institutet in Sweden looked at the association between…