research

Here’s my Pick of the Week’s News, as published by Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Canada, World’s Multiple Sclerosis Capital, Launches 3-Way Collaboration to Research MS Progression Why some people develop primary progressive MS and others have the relapsing type, and why a many relapsing patients develop secondary…

Ampyra (dalfampridine) shows long-term efficacy in improving walking ability in people with multiple sclerosis, according to a study evaluating the treatment’s use in progressive and relapsing MS patients over two years. The study, “Monitoring long-term efficacy of fampridine in gait-impaired patients with multiple sclerosis,” was published in the…

Multiple Sclerosis News Today interviewed Dr. Linard Filli,
 an MS researcher at the University Hospital Zurich involved in clinical studies of prolonged release Ampyra (dalfampridine), on walking ability in MS patients, and Dr. Andrew Blight, chief scientific officer at Acorda Therapeutics, the treatment’s developer. Here is a full transcript of that interview. An…

More than 2,000 bicyclists are expected to join in the 30th Annual Running of the Bike MS: Sam’s Club Round-Up Ride, set for May 6-7 in Fort Worth, Texas. The two-day, 163-mile trek’s objective is to raise $1.8 million in funding for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Last year, participants pedaled 279,000 miles…

Three Canadian entities — Toronto-based Biogen Canada and the MS Society of Canada, and Montreal-based Brain Canada — have jointly invited researchers to establish a multiple sclerosis (MS) progression cohort in Canada. The $7 million nationwide MS Progression Cohort offers a timely opportunity to investigate some of the biggest challenges in curing progressive MS, such as…

The use of antibiotics in childhood, which alters the microbiome — or natural bacteria flora in the gut — may increase the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other inflammatory diseases, according to an Australian study. The mouse study, “Early-life antibiotic treatment enhances the…

A prominent neurologist, who was involved in early research into B-cell therapy, tells Multiple Sclerosis News Today about his positive experience of using ocrelizumab, now branded Ocrevus, with patients. Michael Racke, MD, Department of Neurology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center took time to talk with me about…

Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), now approved for both relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), is expected to become available in the coming week. While patients and neurologists are waiting, Multiple Sclerosis News Today spoke to Genentech about the treatment’s approval, future research plans, and what patients can expect in terms…

Nektar Therapeutics has started a Phase 1 clinical trial of its biologic therapy NKTR-358 for inflammatory disorders and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis. NKTR-358 is a first-in-class regulatory T-cell stimulator designed to correct the immune system dysfunction associated with these disorders. It targets regulatory T-cells, or Tregs. Other immunosuppressant therapies suppress the…

Dr. Stephen Hauser, chair of the neurology department at the University of California San Francisco, was instrumental in the early research and later clinical trials that ultimately led to Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), the first therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for both relapsing MS (RMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis…

Scientists at the University of Maryland have developed an experimental treatment to control the immune system and recover movement in a paralyzed mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). The team presented its research April 2 during the 253rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco. In…

Interest in  Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), the first FDA-approved treatment for both relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis, is running high among patients and the organization representing them — as, arguably, are expectations of its use. But how do physicians involved in MS care view the newcomer? Dr. Robert Lisak (Photo courtesy…

Brain stem cells from primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) patients lack the ability to repair brain damage and to trigger the maturation of protective myelin-producing cells, a surprising study with far-reaching implications indicates. The study also showed that stem cells from individual patients reacted differently to compounds developed to trigger…

British scientists have accelerated from weeks to days the process by which stem cells generate brain cells, which could open the door to new treatment approaches for diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and colleagues at the University of Cambridge developed the…

Using a small RNA molecule belonging to the family of microRNAs (miRs), scientists could restore myelin in nerve cells and improve limb function in mouse models of human multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, “miR-219 Cooperates with miR-338 in Myelination and Promotes Myelin Repair in the CNS,” was published in…

Mothers with chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, have a higher risk of having children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a Norwegian study. The findings were reported in a study titled “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Offspring of Mothers With Inflammatory and Immune System Diseases”…

CGEN-15001, which could become the first tolerance-inducing therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune conditions, is on the agenda of a scientific conference in Canada that is going on now and another conference in May. The first CGEN-15001 presentation that Compugen is delivering is at the Keystone Symposia: Immune Regulation in Autoimmunity and…

Twenty years ago, the idea that B-cell depletion could treat multiple sclerosis would have been greeted with a hearty laugh by any well-respected neurologist or MS researcher — or perhaps a scoff. But times change and research advances. Today, a medicine that gets rid of certain B-cells may be the most powerful drug yet developed against…

High levels of a protein called Rab32 may contribute to the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), leading to neuronal loss, a new study concludes. The study, “Rab32 connects ER stress to mitochondrial defects in multiple sclerosis,” appeared in the Journal of Neuroinflammation. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is involved in the production…

A person unlucky enough to have two specific gene variants is at significantly higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study. The research, which gave scientists insight into the processes that cause MS, also suggested that another mutation increased the effects of a known MS risk gene. The…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are more likely to develop kidney or bladder stones than those without MS, a new study concludes. The report, “Multiple sclerosis and nephrolithiasis: a matched-case comparative study,” appeared in the journal BJU International. Stone disease is highly lethal in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), a condition that,…

Four newly published articles, the focused work of a group of researchers, evaluate the validity of four outcome measures commonly used in clinical trials of multiple sclerosis (MS) to set standards for such measures, the National MS Society recently reported. The effort by the Society-sponsored MS Outcome Assessments Consortium…

Scientists have identified a receptor that promotes the influx of damaging immune T-cells into the brain of a mouse model of human multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, “EBI2 is highly expressed in multiple sclerosis lesions and promotes early CNS migration of encephalitogenic CD4 T cells,” appeared in the…

The potential approval of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) this month supports the idea that, someday, a world free of multiple sclerosis (MS) is possible, according to Dr. Tim Coetzee, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s chief advocacy, services and research officer. While Coetzee — and the society he represents — realize the potential of…

Here is a transcript of Multiple Sclerosis News Today‘s interview with Dr. Tim Coetzee — chief advocacy, services and research officer for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society — about the importance of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s awaited decision on Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), and the other ongoing research. Tim…

Regulatory T-cells in the central nervous system trigger the maturation of stem cells that increase the production of myelin at injured neurons — a discovery that places the idea of regeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) in a whole new light. Myelin is a substance essential to the functioning of the…

The past few months have not been fun. We lost my father-in-law, put our beloved cat down, and moved from our home to a townhouse that is too small and poorly built. With a low inventory of rental properties in our area, and…

Telemedicine, which allows healthcare professionals to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients at a distance with telecommunications technology, may soon benefit people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Elizabeth Morrison-Banks, MD, a health sciences clinical professor at the University of California at Riverside School of Medicine, is planning a pilot one-year study of a home-based…

A clinical test of whether bionic robotics can improve mobility in people with relapsing or progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and considerable disability is now recruiting participants, after being approved by the U.K. National Health Service’s Health Research Authority (HRA) ethics committee. The trial, called RAPPER 3 (Robot Assisted Physiotherapy Exercises with Rex…

The idea of repairing damaged axons — a key component of advancing disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) — just got closer to reality, with the discovery that a compound found in fungi triggered axon regeneration, making damaged axons grow “like weeds.” Scientists have long struggled to find compounds that stimulate the…