April 5, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Nykode’s ‘inverse vaccine’ found to prevent MS in mouse model 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…
August 12, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Anti-CD20 Therapies Help Mount T-cell Response to COVID-19 Vaccines People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are on therapies that deplete antibody-producing B-cells can mount an effective T-cell immune response to COVID-19 vaccination, a new study shows. The findings suggest that the vaccines strongly activate other parts of the immune system that are helpful in fighting the virus,…
July 7, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Higher COVID-19 Risk Tied to 2 MS Therapies, Even With Vaccination Fully vaccinated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who are treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) or Gilenya (fingolimod) have a significantly higher risk of COVID-19 infection than those given other immunosuppressive therapies, according to a study in Italy. Called breakthrough infections, these post-vaccination cases of SARS-CoV-2 ā the virus that causes…
March 16, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS BCG Vaccine for TB Not Linked to MS Risk: Large Canadian Study Getting the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to protect against tuberculosis (TB) ā an immunization often given to infants and small children in countries where TB is common ā does not decrease a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. “Within a large birth cohort…
December 28, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Ocrevus, Gilenya May Limit Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines: UK Study COVID-19 infection rates after widespread vaccination were significantly higher among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients on Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) or Gilenya (fingolimod) than in the general population, but not among MS patients given other immunosuppressive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a data study in England reports. While information on patientsā vaccination…
December 17, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Study: Anti-CD20 Therapies, Gilenya Lower Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines Certain treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) ā specifically, anti-CD20 antibody therapies and Gilenya (fingolimod) ā are likely to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines for COVID-19, according to a new study. “Highlighting groups who have mounted an inadequate vaccine response has already been helpful in guiding who should receive…
December 3, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Immune-suppressing Medicines May Reduce COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy A class of immune-suppressing medications called TNF-alpha inhibitors can reduce the efficacy of vaccines for COVID-19, according to a study that included patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. The results also suggest that a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine may help to protect patients with…
September 17, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Patients on Anti-CD20 Therapies Urged to Get COVID-19 Vaccine While people with multiple sclerosis (MS) taking anti-CD20 therapies do not mount a robust antibody response after getting vaccinated against COVID-19, the vaccines do strongly activate other parts of the immune system that are likely to be helpful in fighting the virus, a new study shows. “The message…
September 8, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Risk of MS Relapse Not Increased by COVID-19 Vaccine, Study Finds Getting the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 does not increase the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses in the two months following vaccination, according to a new study. The results support recommending COVID-19 vaccines for people with MS, its researchers said. “The incidence of relapses in the 2āmonths before and…
August 21, 2020 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Ocrevus Cancels RRMS Patient’s Immunity to Chickenpox Virus, Case Study Finds Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) eliminated the immunity, acquired through vaccination, to the varicella-zoster virus ā the virus that causes chickenpoxĀ and shingles ā in a man with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a case study reported.Ā …
January 19, 2018 Columns by Jamie Hughes Chicken Soup Has Super Powers Get plenty of rest. Drink lots of warm fluids. Use a humidifier. Gargle and flush your sinuses with warm salt water. Blow your nose early and often. Take over-the-counter medications. Eat some chicken soup. No doubt, you know what Iām talking about when you read this list of…
January 16, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias A Tough Year to Fight the Flu I’m fighting a cold. I’m coughing and I’m congested. I’m hoping it’s not the flu. This is not a year to get the flu. The type of flu circulating in most of North America right now is the H3N2 variety. And, in the words of Helen Branswell…
December 5, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Human Vaccines Project Studies Aim to Unveil Workings of Immune System Scientists announced positive and encouraging outcomes from two clinical studies ā running as part of the larger Human Vaccines ProjectĀ ā aiming to unravel the mechanisms that underlie our immune systemās ability to fight disease. The results are expected to shed light on unknown aspects of the immune system that scientists at the Human Vaccines Project, a public-private partnership, hope to translate into new trials for diseases linked to the immune system, such as multiple sclerosis. Results from the trials ā the Human Immunome Program and the Immunity to Hepatitis B Vaccine study ā were recently presented at the World Vaccine and Immunotherapy Congress in San Diego, California. In the ongoing Human Immunome Program, researchers are trying to fill a major knowledge gap in the components and mechanisms of the immune system that allow it to recognize various threats, from viruses, parasites and bacteria to cancer cells. They are using blood samples from healthy people to analyze, at an unprecedented depth, the whole repertoire of genes that make up the surface receptors of immune B- and T-cells, the core cells of the immune systemās defence mechanisms. Results will likely advance how scientists diagnose and treat various diseases, and could prompt the development of new, improved vaccines. "We are studying the immune systems of healthy individuals to identify common elements, which could be important for facilitating new and improved vaccines," James E. Crowe Jr., MD, director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Vaccine Center, the leading scientific institution of the Human Immunome Program, said in a press release. Researchers will cross the sequencing information with participants' microbiome composition ā the natural community of microbes that reside in an organism and are key for a healthy immune system ā and other health and sociodemographic characteristics. "We also plan to expand these studies to complete the catalog across different demographics and geographies and compare healthy subjects with individuals with immune-mediated diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and Alzheimer's, which could also reveal novel diagnostic markers," Crowe said. The second study, the Immunity to Hepatitis B Vaccine trial ā currently recruiting participants ā aims to understand why some people achieve protection against Hepatitis B after a single vaccine shot, while others require up to three immunizations to acquire full immunity. Understanding why the immune system responds differently in individuals can help researchers improve existing vaccines and potentially lead to one-shot vaccines that provide long-term immunity for all populations. Researchers in this study are analyzing genes belonging to the innate-immune system ā a general immune system response, not one tailored to specific threats ā and observing that activation of these genes in certain immune cells can predict who will be a responder after a single shot of the Hepatitis B vaccine. Preliminary results of the Immunity to Hepatitis B Vaccine study were delivered in two separate sessions at the congress. One was given byĀ Manish Sadarangani, director of the Vaccine Evaluation Center of the University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, and the by and Richard Scheuermann, director of theĀ J. Craig Venter InstituteĀ in La Jolla, California. "These preliminary data points toward strategies to understand why some people respond better to vaccines than others," Sadarangani said. "Using single cell analyses, we now have the opportunity to probe vaccine-induced responses more effectively, to not only learn what happens immediately after vaccination, but to monitor responses over time and utilize machine learning to eventually predict the human immune response to vaccines," added Scheuermann. Wayne C. Koff, president and chief executive officer of the Human Vaccines Project, emphasized that researchers are optimistic with the results obtained so far, as they "provide important insights into the scale and complexity of the human immune system and how vaccines confer protective immunity." "With our network of academic and corporate partners, we aim to build on these findings and decode the human immune system, giving the world the tools required to advance the development of future vaccines and therapies to defeat major global diseases," Koff concluded. Ā
January 4, 2017 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD Top 10 Multiple Sclerosis Articles of 2016 A number ofĀ important discoveries, therapeutic developments, and events related to multiple sclerosis (MS) were reported dailyĀ by Multiple Sclerosis News Today throughout 2016. Now that the year is over, it is time to briefly review the articles that appealed most toĀ ourĀ readers. Here are the top 10 most-read articles of 2016, with…
November 3, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Myelin May Hold Raw Material for Immunizing MS Patients Against Demyelination Immunization with molecules present specifically in myelin may be a new approach to treating multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent study that found that the mouse version of such molecules could stopĀ ongoing diseaseĀ processes in an MS mouse model. The study, “Targeting Non-classical Myelin Epitopes to Treat…
June 30, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Vaccine to Treat Multiple Sclerosis Showing Promise and Soon to Enter Phase 3 Clinical Testing A therapeutic vaccine for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), called Xemys,Ā is showingĀ positive results in pre-clinical and clinical trials, and is soonĀ to enter Phase 3 clinical testing. Xemys was developed by researchers at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of SciencesĀ and their colleagues. While traditional vaccines are…
May 24, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD New Research Center at UC San Diego to Focus on Microbiome and Immunology TheĀ University of California (UC) San Diego School of Medicine and Chiba University School of Medicine, Japan, are working togetherĀ to establishĀ a newĀ center forĀ immunology research, with a particular focusĀ on the microbiome and mucosal immune responses that are knownĀ to play a crucial role in a variety of diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). āThis…
December 28, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Top 10 Multiple Sclerosis Articles of 2015 Multiple Sclerosis News Today has reported the latest therapies, clinical trial developments, and events in multiple sclerosis (MS) on a daily basis throughout the past year. As 2015 comes to an end, hereĀ are the year’s 10 articlesĀ most widely readĀ byĀ Ā Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ readers, each with a brief summary of the developments…
September 24, 2014 News by Maureen Newman Vaccine Against MS Being Developed at Baylor Institute for Immunology Research A vaccination against multiple sclerosis is in progress in the laboratory of SangKon Oh, PhD, at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research. Along with Gerard Zurawski, PhD, and Ted Phillips, MD, Dr. Oh is applying new insights from research in dendritic cell vaccines to a multiple sclerosis vaccine. “Dr.