research

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics is planning to launch a Phase 2 clinical trial in the United States to evaluate the safety and activity of its lead cell therapy candidate, NurOwn, in people with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The company announced that has submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to…

Women with multiple sclerosis are being diagnosed at younger ages and in greater numbers than men, except for those with primary progressive disease (PPMS), where men 50 or older tend to predominate, a European review study that looked at trends over several decades reports. The study “Age‐dependent variation of female…

MS-specific Lineage of Oligodendrocytes May Provide New Hints on MS Development Our immune system, according to this study, may not be the only thing playing a role in the development of our MS. The same cells that produce the myelin that coats our nerves may also be…

Hoping to expedite multiple sclerosis (MS) research and boost patient participation, the Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis is teaming with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. As part of the collaboration, the MS Society will make use of ACP’s iConquerMS, a research initiative to increase the engagement…

Multiple sclerosis patients of working age who are unemployed or on a reduced work schedule are likely to show considerable cognitive impairment on tests, especially those measuring mental processing speeds, than patients who are more gainfully employed, a review study reports. This link held true even in patients with little…

The cells that produce myelin in the brain and spinal cord, called oligodendrocytes, may play an active role in the onset or progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study combining data from MS mouse models and the human brain. This discovery supports the…

Mentally rehearsing an ease of walking to rhythmic cues — especially musical and verbal — improves walking speed and distance, and lessens feelings of fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reports. The study, “Effects and mechanisms of differently…

The pro-inflammatory Th17 cells that characterize multiple sclerosis (MS) may also underlie symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), results of a mouse study show. The study, “Auto-Reactive Th17-Cells Trigger Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder Like Behavior in Mice With Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis,” was published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. “For the first time,…

Appropriate control of immune B-cell numbers and activation in the nervous system is key to preventing inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study. These findings also showed that patients with higher levels of a specific B-cell-regulating cell type had less disease activity. The study, “…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses can be challenging for some patients, and better engagement is needed between patients and their healthcare providers, a study focused on patient experiences has found. The study, titled “Relapse prevalence, symptoms, and health care engagement: patient insights from the Multiple Sclerosis in America 2017 survey,”…

A non-traditional exercise program that incorporates movements used in ballet was found to improve motor control and balance in women with multiple sclerosis, leading its researchers to recommend dance movements be part of such interventions for MS patients. The study, “Targeted ballet program mitigates ataxia and improves…

Relapse rates in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) decline during pregnancy, as does the use of disease-modifying therapies, before both adjust to pre-pregnancy levels again, a large U.S. study based on real-world data shows. The study, “Relapses and disease-modifying drug treatment in pregnancy and live birth…

Blocking SARM1, a protein identified as a central mediator of nerve cell degeneration, works to prevent damage to axons — nerve cell fibers essential in cell-to-cell communication — and may be a way of treating neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), data from Disarm Therapeutics shows. Specially, genetically deleting…

To increase the exchange of research information and goings-on with the patient community, the Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has teamed with RealTalk MS, a weekly podcast for those affected by the disease. Specifically, ACP will share ongoing results of its research initiative, iConquerMS. In…

Denali Therapeutics and Sanofi will collaborate to develop a compound called DNL747 that may treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative disorders. The companies will also jointly work on the development of a separate possible therapy, DNL758, for systemic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Both DNL747 and DNL758…

NICE Postpones Final Opinion on Adding Ocrevus to Public Health System for PPMS Patients in UK This last-minute reprieve from the agency that dictates which medications may be prescribed for patients of the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) is welcome news. Last summer, the National Institute for…

Researchers at Yale uncovered a way that high-salt diets may trigger inflammation and possibly contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Their study, “Activated β-catenin in Foxp3+ regulatory T cells links inflammatory environments to autoimmunity,” was recently published in the journal Nature…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) binds to a specific amino acid in key enzymes to inhibit their activity, according to a study that sheds more light on this therapy’s little-known mechanism of action. This newly identified regulatory mechanism may lead to the discovery of new compounds…

Bacteria that reside in human gut may trigger autoimmune reactions by producing human-like proteins that mimic a naturally occurring and crucial cell protein. Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast in Ireland report that patients with autoimmune disorders — such as multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, and ulcerative colitis — have…

Myelin loss might be prevented by astrocytes, a brain cell that regulates myelin’s thickness in coating nerve fibers to support the proper transmission of nerve signals, after astrocytes were seen to block an enzyme called thrombin in a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its…

Fast Forward, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, will invest up to $330,000 to advance the clinical development of an antibody that was shown to lessen inflammation and nerve cell damage in a multiple sclerosis (MS) mouse model. The funding will help develop the antibody (a protein…

Children exposed to certain air pollutants in urban areas or some household chemicals are at higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) during childhood or adolescence, two new research studies suggest. The studies “Urban air quality and associations with pediatric multiple sclerosis” and…

Blocking a molecule that is overly abundant in the nervous system of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, and has been linked to nerve cell damage in animals, worked to significantly ease inflammation, demyelination, and neurodegeneration in mouse models  of secondary progressive MS (SPMS), a study reports. Treatment…

“Deceptive” and “false” are two words used by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to describe marketing claims by two stem cell treatment clinics in California. According to an FTC complaint, the clinics had been advertising that they were using amniotic stem cell therapy to successfully treat serious diseases, including…

Infection with the most common member of the herpes virus family, called HHV-6, may pass unnoticed and without symptoms, but the very act of being infected significantly accelerated the development and progression of a multiple sclerosis-like disease in nonhuman primates, a study reports. Its findings support the role of viral infection in…

Stem cells from patients with Parkinson’s disease 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 without gravitational forces acting on them. This research project, proposed to launch in May…

A new conceptual framework, called PRIMERS, has been proposed as a way of better understanding how physical exercise works to improve cognition and mobility in people with multiple sclerosis, and using what’s learned to create new types of rehabilitation therapy for MS patients. PRIMERS, conceived by a team led by researchers the…

An international consortium studying more than 68,000 people, about half of them multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, found rare genetic variations that account for up to 5 percent of the heritable MS risk, a study reports. The newly discovered mutations were associated with either an increased…

Stress granules forming inside the nerve cells of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be the underlying cause of nerve cell degeneration and permanent disability in these patients, researchers report. The reason for this stress response seems to a protein that behaves aberrantly in the neurons of an…

Environmental changes, such as high temperatures and alterations in salt types and concentrations, trigger structural changes to myelin that may increase the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. The research, “Pathological transitions in myelin membranes driven by environmental and multiple sclerosis conditions,” was…