A globally recognized neurologist and scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has won the 2024 John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research for her work to improve women’s care through a better understanding of the mechanisms behind sex differences in multiple sclerosis (MS). Rhonda Voskuhl,…
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Erectile dysfunction is more likely to occur among men with multiple sclerosis (MS) whose disease is more severe, according to a study, which noted that the ability to contract the cremaster muscle, which controls the position of the testicles, was linked with a decreased likelihood of erectile dysfunction in…
A stem cell transplant effectively reduced the abnormal immune response that drives multiple sclerosis (MS) progression by altering a specific group of immune cells called myeloid cells, a mouse study showed. Treatment with a compound that suppressed a receptor called CSF1R improved the transplantation efficiency of myeloid cells…
Scientists have created an assay that can measure immune cells’ inflammatory attack against the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a known risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers found preliminary evidence that some MS treatments, but not others, may alter the immune system’s response to EBV. The scientists said the…
Researchers have identified three distinct immune signatures in the blood of people with early multiple sclerosis (MS) that seem to be linked to specific disease trajectories and response to treatment, potentially offering a path to personalized care. “These findings represent a pivotal shift towards precision medicine in MS,” Heinz Wiendl,…
Older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) whose eating habits resemble a Mediterranean diet tend to have less disability and better quality of life, a study found. The findings suggest the Mediterranean diet is a “promising nutritional intervention to slow down disease progression of MS and to minimize disease-related symptoms…
The use of obesity medications — approved drugs for treating diabetes and promoting weight loss — is associated with a reduced chance of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to real-world data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a study found. In particular, medicines that activate a receptor…
Renowned experts in multiple sclerosis (MS) healthcare, research, and advocacy will again gather at the annual meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), slated this year for May 29 to June 1. The event, now in its 38th edition, will return to the Music City Center, in Nashville,…
An inverse vaccine developed by Nykode Therapeutics to boost immune system tolerance to a specific protein target was able to prevent the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease. The vaccine, known as a Vaccibody, is designed to teach the immune system to…
The Swank and Wahls diets, which are used by people with multiple sclerosis (MS), were associated with improvements in cognition and fatty acid blood profiles in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients, according to new analyses from the WAVES trial. Changes in omega-3 fatty acids after about three months correlated…
Kyverna Therapeutics‘ cell-based therapy KYV-101 had an acceptable safety profile and promising treatment effects when given to two people with hard-to-treat progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a case study. “We are very pleased about offering this potentially paradigm-shifting treatment opportunity to patients that have exhausted other medical…
People who start treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) soon after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at a lower risk of relapse in the long term compared with patients who start on less effective disease-modifying therapies (DMT), a study has found. Patients on Tysabri, an antibody-based therapy,…
Obesity in childhood is associated with a more than double the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) in adulthood, although the overall risk is low, according to a new study. “Our study adds to the evidence that obesity in early life increases the risk for a plethora of diseases…
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients diagnosed in more recent years — specifically after 2017 — were more likely to start sooner on a first MS disease-modifying therapy (DMT) than were those diagnosed between 2014 and 2016, an analysis of data from three large MS registries found. However, starting with…
High-efficacy therapies given early can significantly reduce the risk of disability worsening in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly when treatment is started while patients have fairly minimal disability, according to a new study. While lower-efficacy therapies were also associated with a reduced risk of disability progression…
Low levels of the estrogen hormone estradiol may be linked to worse brain damage, a new study found, offering a possible explanation as to why multiple sclerosis (MS) often progresses more rapidly in women during menopause, when levels of that sex hormone drop. However, the use of hormone…
Getting the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to protect against tuberculosis (TB) or having latent (inactive) TB in young adulthood aren’t linked to the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), a Norwegian study found. The study, “BCG vaccination and multiple sclerosis risk: A Norwegian cohort study,” was published in…
Measurements from smartphones and wearable devices like smartwatches can reliably provide clinically meaningful data to monitor multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study from Switzerland reports. While daily data from such devices did not prove sufficiently reliable in this small study, information generated weekly — across more than 45 different…
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…
Two types of chemicals in household disinfectants and furniture can disrupt the development of oligodendrocytes, the brain cells chiefly responsible for making myelin, a new study shows. The finding suggests that exposure to these chemicals may be a risk factor for disorders related to myelin such as…
While regulatory T-cells (Tregs) are able to promote remyelination — the repair of the myelin sheath that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) — this ability declines significantly with age, a new study shows. Based on the findings, researchers have identified molecular targets that may boost the myelin-repairing features…
Almost all of the nearly 700 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Italy who responded to a patient survey reported at least one unmet MS care need — ranging from insufficient access to primary care, social interactions, assistance, doctor-patient relationships, and information about the neurodegenerative disease. More than half…
A subset of astrocytes — a type of support cell for the central nervous system — has a form of immune-related memory that might contribute to a worsening of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to recent research. Much like immune cells, these astrocytes can remember inflammatory stimuli that they previously have…
In multiple sclerosis (MS), lesions — areas of abnormal tissue in the nervous system — start as a core of a few inflammatory immune cells, with inflammatory damage then spreading outward from these cells to form a lesion. That’s according to a new study from Sweden, in which researchers…
Note: This story was updated March 26, 2024, to correct the affiliations of the Multiple Sclerosis Implementation Network staff and to note changes to the program’s partners. The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) has tapped healthcare technology company Seqster to power its multicenter research and learning program, which…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a twofold higher risk of seizures compared with the general population, according to pooled data from clinical trials. Among MS patients, treatment with sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor (S1PR) modulators, a class of MS disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that includes the oral medications Gilenya (fingolimod),…
Vitamin D supplements were associated with less severe disease in a rat model of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), but male rats tended to experience greater benefits than did females, a study into disease-related sex differences reports. This higher overall benefit may be due to nerve cells in males being…
Using antibodies against a viral protein that’s needed for the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to invade human cells was found to successfully prevent viral infections and EBV-associated cancer in mice in a new study. By identifying sites where these antibodies bind to the viral protein — called gp42 — researchers…
Lumina Imaging has partnered with the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) to provide affordable brain and spinal cord MRI scans to multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The partnership makes Lumina the preferred provider for the MSAA’s MRI Access Program in northeast Ohio. The program is designed…
The Polish biotechnology company PolTREG plans to launch Phase 2 trials testing its Tregs therapy — the T-cell-based treatment PTG-007 — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Poland later this year. The biotech company has earned a Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) certification for its new manufacturing…