March 11, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Genetic model can help predict risk of MS in optic neuritis patients A model based on genetic factors could help predictĀ the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) in people with optic neuritis, an eye disorder that can be an early sign of MS, according to new research. “As a doctor caring for many patients with optic neuritis, Iām excited by…
April 7, 2023 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD OCS-05 neuroprotective therapy for MS shows good safety profile OCS-05, a neuroprotective treatment candidate being developed by Oculis for multiple sclerosis (MS) or other causes of optic nerve inflammation, demonstrated a favorable safety and pharmacological profile in healthy volunteers, according to Phase 1 trial data. AĀ Phase 2 trial (NCT04762017), called ACUITY, is now evaluating OCS-05’s…
January 30, 2023 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Global Experts Agree on Criteria to Diagnose Optic Neuritis Researchers have developed a set of criteria to diagnose optic neuritis (ON) ā inflammation in the nerve fibers sending signals to and from the eye ā and identify whether it is caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) or other conditions. The criteria, developed by an international group of specialists,…
October 24, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Trethera Awarded $1.6M to Develop TRE-515 as Optic Neuritis Treatment Trethera has been awarded a $1.6 million grant to further develop TRE-515 as a potential treatment for optic neuritis ā inflammation of the nerves that transmit data from the eyes to the brain ā which also is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). TRE-515 is a first-in-class…
August 22, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Oral Therapy TRE-515 Wins Orphan Drug Status for Optic Neuritis in US The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to Trethera Corporationās experimental oral therapy TRE-515 for demyelinating optic neuritis, an eye condition that may progress to multiple sclerosis (MS) or occur during the disease course. The first-in-class therapy is expected to lessen the inflammation…
August 10, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Retinal Thinning After Optic Neuritis May Help Predict Relapse Recovery After a relapse involving optic neuritis, or inflammation in the nerves connecting the eyes and brain, measurements of retinal thinning may predict the likelihood of full recovery from future relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study suggests. The measurement could identify subclinical nerve cell damage that remains…
July 20, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah A Big Step Forward: Using Public Transportation With MS As anyone with chronic illness knows, leaving the house requires planning. Thereās much more to think about than what’s visible, especially if you’re relying on public transport. In the days preceding last week’s appointment with my multiple sclerosis (MS) nurse, I was contemplating just how long it’d been since…
June 22, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah Grappling With the Sensory Overload That Can Come With MS Imagine this scene: There’s a rowdy crowd of nearly 40,000 people in a rugby stadium with music blaring over the Tannoy speakers. Newfound numbness spreads throughout the majority of your body, and on top of that, you can hardly see. That was the perfect myriad of factors to elicit my…
June 15, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah Just Because We Aren’t Relapsing Doesn’t Mean We Are Symptom-free In relapsing-remitting MS, relapses and exacerbations involve a worsening of symptoms or the appearance of new ones for 24 hours or more. My disease baseline has changed many times over the years, but has never returned to how it was before my symptoms began. I’m intrigued by how…
December 14, 2021 News by Somi Igbene, PhD Regular Eye Screening Vital for MS Patients, Study Finds Visual disturbances are common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly among those with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), longer disease duration, and worse disability status, a new study has found. Yet, “visual complaints may occur in people with all types of MS, anytime along the disease course, and…
April 21, 2021 News by Mary Chapman One-third of Patients in the UK Hid MS Status, Poll Finds An MS Society survey found that about one-third of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the U.K. have kept their condition hidden from their partner, family members, employer, or work colleagues. To help mark MS Awareness Week, observed in the U.K. April 19ā25, the nonprofit organization released…
February 16, 2021 News by Steve Bryson, PhD 2 Biomarkers Found to Predict MS Onset in People with Optic Neuritis An antibody analysis has identified two biomarkers that can be used to predict the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in people with optic neuritis, a study reports.Ā Further research is, however, required to validate these findings…
October 22, 2019 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Endothelin-1 a Potential Biomarker of Severity and Recovery from Optic Neuritis in MS, Study Suggests Endothelin-1 (ET-1) ā a molecule with potent blood vessel-narrowing (vasoconstrictive) properties ā may be used as a biomarker of severity for optic neuritis in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a small Italian study suggests. The molecule also may be a potential indicator of patients’ failure to recover…
July 24, 2019 News by Alejandra Viviescas, PhD Conversion to MS Among Taiwanese with CIS Low and Disease Course Mild, Study Finds The percentage of Taiwanese who develop multiple sclerosis (MS) after an episode of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) is lower than that reported for other ethnicities, and those who do progress are likely to have a milder disease course, a study found, supporting how factors like geography and genetics…
September 11, 2018 News by Ashraf Malhas, PhD MS Patients in Iran with Early-onset Disease Are Mostly Women with RRMS, Study Reports A study of Iranian patients with early-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) found women to be in the majority, optic neuritis to be the most common first disease symptom, and relapsing-remitting MS the most frequent disease course. The epidemiology ofĀ early-onset MS (typically, MS diagnosed before age 16; age 18 was the benchmark…
June 28, 2018 News by Vijaya Iyer, PhD Laquinimod, Potential PPMS Therapy, Seen to Ease Damage to Vision in Mouse Model Treating mice in a model of multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā with laquinimod before the onset of symptoms eased inflammation so as to help preserve their vision ā lessening damage to the optic nerve and retina, a study from Germany reports. The study, āLaquinimod protects the optic nerve and…
May 1, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD Livestock Disease Toxin May Lead to Development of MS, Study Suggests Exposure to epsilon toxin (ETX), which is mainly found in livestock, could be linked to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), new research suggests. The study, āEvidence of Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin associated with multiple sclerosis,ā appeared in theĀ Multiple Sclerosis Journal. ETX is one of…
December 21, 2017 Columns by Tamara Sellman The MS Alphabet: Optic Neuritis, Occupational Therapy, and Other ‘O’ Words Editorās note: Tamara Sellman continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet with this column referencing terms starting with the letter “O.” Symptoms of MS Optic neuritis This is a common symptom of MS, though not everyone who experiences optic neuritis…
October 25, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #MSParis2017 – MOG-associated Demyelination Can Be Treated with Steroids, but Maintenance Is Required People with aĀ demyelinating disease associated withĀ antibodies against a myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), most often develop episodes of optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve) that can be treated with corticosteroids, according to data presented today at theĀ 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS MeetingĀ from Oct. 25-28 in Paris. MOG antibody-associated demyelination is a…
September 11, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Structural Eye Neurodegeneration Common Among MS Patients with Optic Neuritis, Danish Study Finds Structural changes of the eye retina are a common feature among multiple sclerosis patients with a clinical history of optic neuritis, a Danish study finds. Loss of the myelin protective layer of optic nerve cells due to inflammation causes optic neuritis. About 20 percent of MS have it, and optic neuritis is a symptom of disease progression in about 40 percent of patients. In most cases, symptoms persist, leading to visual impairment or blindness, along with pain. Non-invasive optical coherence tomography can help evaluate neurodegeneration of optic nerve cells. This imaging technique allows a three-dimensional evaluation of internal eye structures, including the thickness of the retina nerve fiber layer. Previous studies have shown that MS patients may present progressive RNFL loss, but this can also be caused by optic neuritis. The use of OCT has been proposed to distinguish MS subtypes and evaluate disease activity. However, little clinical data is available to validate OCT's accuracy and potential as a diagnostic tool. To find out more, a Danish research team conducted a long-term evaluation of structural and functional visual outcomes in MS patients with and without a history of optic neuritis. Researchers observed that patients with a history of optic neuritis had significantly more RNFL thickness loss than those without optic neuritis. They linked reduced RNFL thickness with a 1.56 times higher risk of optic neuritis development. Nevertheless, the team did not find any association between optic neuritis and functional impairment of visual acuity or color vision. Use of high-resolution OCT devices coupled with up-do-date analysis software can improve the diagnostic efficacy of this imaging technique in MS patients, said researchers, who urged more studies to address the relevance of structural changes in MS.
July 17, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson Seeing First-hand the Effect of Vision Issues Linked to MS I was watching my son’s baseball game in the early 1990s when suddenly, my left eye went blurry and blocked my vision. It was a startling incident that lasted about two hours, and then it was gone. That was my introduction into the unpredictable world of multiple sclerosis…
February 14, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD New Compound, ST266, May Prevent Optic Neuritis Linked to Multiple Sclerosis Researchers have tested a new compound called ST266 in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) and found that itsĀ anti-inflammatory properties prevent the loss of cells related toĀ optic neuritis ā a condition that leads to vision loss. The study, āIntranasal Delivery of aĀ Novel Amnion Cell Secretome Prevents…
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 17, 2017 News by Ćzge Ćzkaya, PhD Tecfidera Seen to Potentially Limit Vision Problems in MS Genetically silencing the transcription factor Nrf2 in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) results in visual deficits, inflammation of the optic nerve, and degeneration of the retinal ganglion cells (RGC), according to a study published in the scientific journal Molecular Vision.
June 17, 2016 Columns by admin Optic Neuritis in MS So Difficult To See Optic neuritis is one of the symptoms of which those of us who live with multiple sclerosis on a daily basis know can set us apart from others. We are fully, and often painfully, aware that everyone is different. We all experience a different array of symptoms to similarly different…
April 19, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc Antihistamine Aids in Reversing Visual Damage in MS Patients, Appears to Have Remyelination Properties, AAN Presentation Reports AĀ Phase 2 clinical trial testing the efficacy of a common antihistamine, clemastine fumarate, to treat optic nerve damage in peopleĀ with multiple sclerosis (MS) found the drug able to slightlyĀ reverse damage to their visual system. The Ā study, conducted by researchers at theĀ Multiple Sclerosis Center at the University of California San…
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 19, 2016 News by admin Anti-LINGO-1: All You Need to Know Recently, Biogen released results from its Phase 2 acute optic neuritis (AON) RENEW trial which tested Anti-LINGO-1. Learn more about this results here. So what isĀ Anti-LINGO-1? According to the MS Society,Ā Anti-LINGO-1 (also known as BIIB033) is a treatment in development by the pharmaceutical company Biogen which is currently…
April 16, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Experimental Drug Appears to Repair Nerve Damage in Multiple Sclerosis Patients The American Academy of Neurology (AAN)Ā 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,…