research

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…

An antibody that blocks a blood-clotting factor from leaking into the brain was seen to lessen neuroinflammation and nerve cell damage in mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists developed an antibody that selectively inhibits the inflammation-triggering capacity of fibrin in…

To support multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and caregivers — and cutting-edge research — the 2018 National Multiple Sclerosis Society for Bike MS: City to Shore Ride 2018 in New Jersey raised more than $4.4 million. The event’s local presenting sponsor, supply chain solutions provider NFI, raised more than…

An enzyme produced by bacteria in the gut was seen to activate immune cells linked to the development and progression of multiple sclerosis, a finding that may pave the way for a vaccine that might alter autoimmune mechanisms involved in MS. The study, “…

Although brain atrophy — the loss of brain volume — is an increasingly important measure in multiple sclerosis trials and treatment outcomes, MS patients have a limited understanding of its role in disease progression, a survey reveals. This finding was detailed in the presentation “…

Despite its lack of specificity to multiple sclerosis (MS) in particular, monitoring patients with a blood biomarker — serum neurofilament light (sNfL) — may hold promise as a relatively easy way to assess treatment response and brain damage, according to MS experts. But there’s considerable work still to be…

Measuring the blood level of neurofilament light chain (NfL) may predict brain shrinkage in primary progressive (PPMS) and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), according to a new study. The findings also show that NfL levels are associated with brain lesion load in these patients. The research, “…

Merck KGaA announced that evobrutinib, its oral candidate for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), was able to safely and significantly reduce active brain lesions over 24 weeks of treatment, according to results of a Phase 2 study sponsored by the company.

Advances in multiple sclerosis research and the development of new treatments over the last several decades give sustained reasons for hope as continue moving toward our future, according to Jerry S. Wolinsky, a neurologist and MS specialist whose career spans more than 40 years. In a wide-ranging interview with Multiple…

MS PATHS, a way of capturing data on disease progression and treatment response in thousands of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients being treated at any of 10 participating clinics, has among its goals that of making clinical remission — a prolonged absence of any disease activity — possible, said an…

Mouse studies of siponimod — a potential progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment that’s up for approval in the U.S. and EU — were among presentations given by Novartis at the 34th European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), held Oct. 10-12 in Berlin. Animal work might seem…

Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels higher than a proposed threshold have a higher risk of disease activity, and worsened disability, lesions and brain shrinkage in the long term, according to a new study. The research, “Serum neurofilament light (NfL)…

Lesions in the infratentorial region of the brain at the onset of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and lesions in white matter one year after CIS onset are associated with worse disability 30 years later, a study reports. The study, “Early MRI predictors of long-term multiple sclerosis outcomes:…

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are more likely to experience health problems before they receive their formal diagnosis, as well as to experience serious non-MS-related complications after diagnosis, a study reveals. The findings were reported in the study “Increased risk of…

Processing speed is associated with the extent of brain and spinal cord injury in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study conducted in a clinical setting. The results support using the Processing Speed Test (PST) in both clinical practice and trials. The study, “…

Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with rituximab does not increase breast cancer risk in women, and is not associated with a higher risk for malignant cancer of any type in men or women, when compared to Gilenya (fingolimod) or Tysabri (natalizumab), according to a nationwide study in…

Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with rituximab leads to lower-than-reported mortality rates, according to a large real-world study in the U.S. and Sweden. The findings also revealed no deaths due to infusion reactions or to systemic inflammation. The study, “Mortality rates in large US and…

Vitamin D may increase the therapeutic benefits of glucocorticosteroids (GCs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) through a protein complex called mTORc1, according to a study in a mouse model and in cells from MS patients. The study, “Vitamin D augments glucocorticosteroid efficacy via inhibition of mTORc1,” was presented…

A new subtype of multiple sclerosis (MS) — called myelocortical MS (MCMS) — is characterized by cortical neuronal loss, but not by loss of myelin in the brain’s white matter, according to a study. Research on this new type of MS was presented today at the 34th congress of…

In recent years, pregnancy rates have increased among women with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States, according to a retrospective study, but the rate of pregnancy complications is similar between women with MS and those who don’t have the disease. The study, “Pregnancy rates and outcomes in…

The Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis and EMD Serono— a unit of Merck KGaA —  will jointly incorporate the perspectives of U.S. and Canadian multiple sclerosis (MS) patients into the design and implementation of clinical trials. The ACP, a nonprofit group based in Waltham, Massachusetts, strives to accelerate…

Lower Fatigue Reported by MS Patients After aHSCT in Canadian Study Fatigue affects 90 percent of people with MS. It certainly impacts my life. This study, though very small, reports a 36 percent reduction in the median modified Fatigue Impact Scale (mFIS) score three years after autologous…