March 28, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Restoring ‘lost’ pathway of neuroprotection benefits MS mice Treatment with the neuroprotective protein HB-EGF eased inflammation and promoted tissue recovery across various disease stages in a multiple sclerosis (MS) mouse model, recent research suggests. Researchers found that HB-EGF is produced by astrocytes, a type of nerve support cell, to ease acute inflammation early on, but this protective…
August 2, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Research on Exercise’s Protective Effects Flawed, Researchers Say An international team of scientists is calling for more rigorous studies to test whether exercise can help protect the nervous system from damage in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The scientists argue clinical trials that have evaluated exercise in MS have marked flaws in their design, making…
July 5, 2022 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Estriol Plus Copaxone May Protect Against Nerve Damage in RRMS Taking the pregnancy hormone estriol in combination with Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) significantly reduced the blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) ā a marker of nerve damage ā in women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), clinical trial data show. These lower NfL levels were significantly associated with a…
October 1, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD CALLIPER Trial for Progressive MS Enrolls First Patient Immunic Therapeutics has enrolled the first patient in a Phase 2 clinical trial testing its oral therapy candidate IMU-838 for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial, CALLIPER (NCT05054140), is expected to run in parallel to the companyās two identically-designed Phase 3 trials, dubbed…
November 12, 2020 News by Forest Ray PhD Non-invasive Imaging Technique Reveals Ibudilast’s Neuroprotective Effect A non-invasive retina imaging technique known as optical coherence tomography (OCT) provided evidence of the neuroprotective effect of ibudilastĀ (MN-166) ā an oral medication designed to reduce the body’s inflammatory responses āĀ in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The data also…
November 12, 2019 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Long-term IFN-Beta Treatment Normalizes Immune Balance in RRMS, Study Shows Long-term treatment with interferon beta (IFN-beta) corrects the defective immune balance characteristic of people withĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS), a study has found. The study also identified more than 200 genes with significantly different activity between complete and partial responders to IFN-beta treatment, which could be used to identify which…
October 10, 2019 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Blocking LRP1 May Halt Inflammation, Promote Remyelination, Mouse Study Suggests Blocking production of the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) ā involved in inflammatory and immune responses ā specifically in myelinĀ repair cells halts neuroinflammation and promotes myelin repair, a preclinical study shows. These results, fromĀ two mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS), shed light on the underlying mechanisms…
September 16, 2019 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #ECTRIMS2019 – Anti-epileptic May Help to Stop Disability Progression, Study Suggests Oxcarbazepine, an anti-epileptic medicine, given in combination with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) may help to stop disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, results of Phase 2 trial suggest. Monica Marta, PhD, withĀ Queen Mary University of LondonĀ and Barts Health NHS Trust/The Royal London HospitalĀ presented the data at the…
October 18, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – GNbAC1 Shows Consistent Neuroprotection in RRMS Patients, Phase 2b Study Reports TreatingĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with GeNeuroās investigational compound GNbAC1 lessened brain atrophy and lesion load and suggested myelin preservation, according to results of a Phase 2b study. Importantly, monthly intravenous GNbAC1 administration for 48 weeks also had neuroprotective effects in the studyās inactive population, which refers…
October 30, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #MSParis2017 – Aerobic Exercise Seen to Quickly Strengthen Brain Connections in Patients Aerobic exercise strengthens brain connections in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, Jan-Patrick Stellmann, with University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, reported at theĀ 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting in Paris that ran from Oct. 25ā28. According to Stellmann, "aerobic exercises are considered to improve mobility, fatigue, depression and cognition in MS," and also to "promote neuroprotective or neuroregenerative mechanisms." For the study, the team used MRI to examine how exercise affected different types of brain connections. They recruited 57 RRMS patients and 30 healthy controls to the study. Women made up more than two-thirds of the patient group, which had a mean age of 39. Patients only had mild disability, with a mean score of 1.5 on the Expanded Disability Status Scale. Researchers randomly assigned about half the group to a supervised and individually adapted aerobic exercise program, consisting of 22 sessions of up to one hour each. Others were assigned to a waiting list ā with the intent of taking up exercise after three months ā and served as a control group. MRI scans at the study's beginning revealed that patients had more so-called functional connections, but fewer structural ones, than healthy controls. It is known from earlier studies that most RRMS patients show abnormalities in functional connections, but some researchers find increases while others decreases in these connections. Functional and structural connections appear on different types of MRI scans ā ones that make use either of blood flow changes or of the properties of water molecules in the white matter of the brain. The deviations were particularly pronounced in highly connected hub regions, the researchers said. After three months, functional connections increased across the entire brain among exercising patients, but decreased in those on the waiting list. Structural connections also increased among patients who exercised, while no change was detected among control patients. Researchers also noted that exercising patients grew more local connections, mostly in hub regions, compared to those who did not exercise. While it is generally accepted that aerobic exercise promotes neuroprotective and regenerative processes within the brain, the study demonstrated that exercise, in only three months, did indeed affect how the brain is wired. "Short-term aerobic exercise increases functional and structural connectivity,"Ā Stellmann concluded. "Already after three months, exercise lead to functional and structural reorganization of brain networks." The researcher highlighted the difficulties in obtaining financial support for trials on exercise. And he emphasized that patients should be encouraged by their doctors to exercise regularly.
March 14, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Fungal Compound Boosts Axon Regeneration, Offering Clue for MS Treatment The idea of repairing damaged axons ā a key component of advancing disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) ā just got closer to reality, with the discoveryĀ that a compound found in fungi triggered axon regeneration, making damaged axons grow ālike weeds.ā Scientists have long struggled to find compounds that stimulate the…
February 1, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Nasal Solution Made of ‘Molecular Soup’ Protects Eye Neurons in MS Mice with Optic Neuritis A treatment delivered as a nasal solution helped toĀ preserveĀ eye neurons and improve eyesight in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), a recent study demonstrated ā suggesting that it may be possible to deliver drugs that target the brain in this noninvasive way. But nasal administration is not the only…
January 5, 2017 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD CHANGE-MS Phase 2 Study Fully Enrolled Early, Results Due in Fall GeNeuro recently announced that it has finished enrolling multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the CHANGE-MS Phase 2b Ā studyĀ ā several months ahead of schedule.Ā The company nowĀ expects to reportĀ topline results in mid- to late autumn rather than at year’s end. āCompleting enrollment in CHANGE-MS several months sooner than previously anticipated…
June 30, 2016 Columns by admin To Fight MS, Drink Four Cups of Coffee a Day? Ready to fight MS? Well, you can start first thing every day. So, how do you start your day ā a coffee maybe, or a great cup of tea? Tea is my choice but I also enjoy a magnificent cup of Spanish coffee. According to a number of recent studies,Ā coffeeĀ and…
January 29, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS-related Nerve Damage May Be Treatable with Anti-Seizure Drug Researchers from the University College London (UCL)Ā found that the anti-convulsant drug phenytoin protected neural tissue in patients with optic neuritis ā often the first symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā āĀ a conditionĀ thatĀ causes the nerves carrying information between the eyes and the brain to become inflamed and progressively damaged. The study…
January 5, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Review Highlights Long List of Unmet Needs For MS Patients In a special feature publishedĀ in the journal American Health & Drug Benefits, authorsĀ Stanton R. Mehr, President of SM Health Communications, and Marj P. Zimmerman, President of RxDirections, discuss the many unmet medical needs multiple sclerosis (MS) patients still face in dealing with the…
December 17, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD New MS Drug Shows ‘Excellent Profile’ in Preclinical Tests Against Approved Therapy Akaal Pharma, a developer of small molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammation and autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), recently announced highly positive preclinical trial results on the safety and efficacy of its drug candidate AKP-11 when compared to Gilenya (fingolimod, FTY-720), an oral MS drug approved by…
December 5, 2014 News by admin Failure of Brain Development in Early MS Suggests Need for Neuroprotection 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 NeurologyĀ entitled, “Onset of multiple sclerosis before adulthood leads to failure of age-expected brain growth.” Multiple sclerosis is caused…
October 14, 2014 News by Patricia Silva, PhD New Multiple Sclerosis Research Will Focus On Cytokine Regulation, Neuroprotection, Tolerance Induction Evotec AG,Ā a German company specializing in the provision of drug discovery resources to biotech companies and learning institutions, announced that is going to begin three new research projects for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), which will be supported by funds from theĀ German Federal Ministry of Education…