research

Being a lifelong musician can help protect certain tracts of the brain’s white matter from damage during aging, potentially warding off conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or dementia for years. That’s according to the study “Effects of Lifelong Musicianship on White Matter Integrity…

Multiple Sclerosis News Today brought you daily coverage of the latest scientific research, advances in treatment, and clinical trials related to multiple sclerosis (MS) throughout 2021. We look forward to continuing to be a resource for the MS community in 2022. Here are the Top 10 most-read articles of…

NervGen Pharma has received approval to begin testing multiple ascending doses of NVG-291, its lead therapeutic candidate for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurologic conditions, in a Phase 1 trial with healthy volunteers. This multiple ascending dose (MAD) part, in which participants will receive increasing doses of NVG-291…

Cognition-targeting exercise, when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — a type of talk therapy — may further ease fatigue and other symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study found. The study, “The added value of cognition-targeted exercise versus symptom-targeted exercise for multiple sclerosis fatigue: A randomized…

Donations to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada through the end of this year will be double matched, meaning each donation will go three times as far in supporting Canadians with multiple sclerosis (MS) and in advancing research into the disease. All donations received until midnight on Dec.

MS-STAT2, a clinical trial testing whether the cholesterol-lowering medication simvastatin might slow disability progression in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), has finished enrollment. A total of 964 people are now in the trial (NCT03387670), making it the largest progressive MS trial not run by a commercial…

Treatment with a newly discovered subset of regulatory B-cells (Bregs) — a type of immune cell that dampens immune responses — significantly reduced symptoms in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study shows. Similar effects were observed in a mouse model of uveitis, an inflammatory eye disease triggered…

Protxx and the University of Victoria are partnering to explore digital biomarkers for multiple sclerosis (MS) that may improve monitoring of disease progression, and facilitate more personalized care and a better quality of life. The digital biomarkers are based on motion vibrations picked up by Protxx’s wearable “phybrata”…

I’m back in Florida for the next several months, having left cloudy, windy, chilly Maryland for the Gulf Coast. It’s been sunny and in the low 80s for the past few days, and my multiple sclerosis (MS) is feeling just fine. A lot of people with MS avoid the heat,…

Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who receive high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) before conception have a greater risk of relapses and disability progression during pregnancy than those given moderate-efficacy or no DMTs, according to a systematic review of studies. Exclusive breastfeeding for at least two to four months, however,…

Leaders of the International Progressive MS Alliance have proposed a global research strategy to find better ways to care for people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). They detailed their proposal in the paper, “Charting a global research strategy for progressive MS—An international progressive MS…

An imaging technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT) could be useful for monitoring nervous system damage in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), especially early on in the disease, a study in patients reports. The study, “Optical coherence tomography in multiple sclerosis: A 3-year prospective multicenter study,”…

A new subset of type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) — a type of immune cell known mostly for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects in the gut — infiltrates the brain and promotes the abnormal immune attacks that drive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study in a mouse model…

The National MS Society has announced it is funding 13 new research projects that seek to better understand the risk factors involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) development and progression. The funding — nearly $7 million in total — also will go to “rescue” 22 MS-related research projects that…

Lucid-MS, a new chemical molecule being developed by FSD Pharma for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), has shown the ability to restore motor function in an animal model of the disease, the company announced. After about 50 days of treatment, animals receiving Lucid-MS showed a marked decrease…

Low vitamin D levels in the bloodstream are associated with slower information processing speeds in people with early-stage multiple sclerosis (MS), a study suggests. “Our data support the hypothesis that vitamin D is involved in cognition in MS,” its researchers concluded. The study, “Serum Vitamin D as…

A researcher at the University of Houston has received a $100,000 grant to investigate adherence to oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and correlations between adherence patterns and disease outcomes over time. The one-year grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was awarded…

A nuclear protein called heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 or hnRNP A1 — abnormally found outside the nucleus in people with neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) — is essential for nerve cell function and survival. Those are the findings of a new study, by Canadian researchers, of nerve…

Certain cell therapies that hold promise for treating autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis might work not because of the way the cells live in the body during treatment, but because of how they die. A better understanding of how these cell therapies work “is important in designing treatment protocols…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have more difficulty recognizing emotions in others, and they experience emotions more intensely than healthy people, a small study found. The study, “Emotional experience is increased and emotion recognition decreased in multiple sclerosis,” was published in Scientific Reports. Emotions are essential for…

First Patient Dosed in Phase 1 Trial of IMS001 Therapy IMS001 is an investigational treatment that uses mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) — cells derived from human embryos. Preclinical studies have shown that IMS001 has the ability to stabilize an overactive immune system, as is the case in people with…

Mynd Diagnostics is launching a clinical study to test the ability of a blood biomarker, which the company coined Mynd anti-inflammatory peptide (MAP), to help in the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS). Starting in the first quarter of 2022, the company will collect blood samples from diagnosed patients…

ImStem Biotechnology announced that the first patient in its Phase 1 clinical trial for IMS001, an investigational treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), has been dosed at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. The trial (NCT04956744) is recruiting participants with an MS diagnosis ages 18 to 65. More information…

Inconsistently switching between hands for most common manual activities — or naturally choosing the left rather than the right hand — may be associated with more severe multiple sclerosis (MS), either in the form of younger age at diagnosis or progressive type, particularly in women, a small study suggests. These…

Patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with subcutaneous cladribine saw limited disease progression over a follow-up period of up to 20 years, especially with increased cumulative dosing, according to a recent study. Subcutaneous (SC) cladribine is administered as an under-the-skin injection. It is a formulation different from…

There are continuing signals that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a fuel that can spark a multiple sclerosis (MS) fire. EBV is a herpes virus that causes infectious mononucleosis, more commonly known as mono. Sometimes called the “kissing disease” because the virus that causes it is easily spread through saliva,…

Cholesterol made by neurons is crucial for repairing long-term damage to the myelin sheath, the fatty coating around nerve fibers that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new report based on experiments done on mice. The finding suggests that increasing neuronal cholesterol synthesis may be helpful…

The development of Delpor‘s DLP-208 implant for the treatment of moderate-to-severe spasticity, a symptom that commonly affects people with multiple sclerosis (MS), has been boosted by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. The $2.5 million grant will help the company advance DLP-208 into clinical testing, which…

The number of lesions affecting the cerebellum — a brain region responsible for coordinating voluntary movements and motor skills such as balance, coordination, and posture — predicts manual dexterity getting worse in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a retrospective analysis. The study, “Cerebellar pathology and…

Nerve Repair Therapy NVG-291 Safe, Well-tolerated in Healthy People This experimental therapy has a long way to go before it becomes reality. But it’s encouraging that this first step found NVG-291’s side effects to be mild and short-lasting. NVG-291 is designed to promote remyelination by modulating an enzyme called…