Breakthrough nanoparticle halts multiple sclerosis

In a breakthrough for nanotechnology and multiple sclerosis, a biodegradable nanoparticle turns out to be the perfect vehicle to stealthily deliver an antigen that tricks the immune system into stopping its attack on myelin and halt a model of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.

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Scientists create ‘endless supply’ of myelin-forming cells

 

In a new study appearing this month in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have unlocked the complex cellular mechanics that instruct specific brain cells to continue to divide. This discovery overcomes a significant technical hurdle to potential human stem cell therapies; ensuring that an abundant supply of cells is available to study and ultimately treat people with diseases.

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OHSU researchers discover potential way to repair brain damage in multiple sclerosis

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that blocking a certain enzyme in the brain can help repair the brain damage associated with multiple sclerosis and a range of other neurological disorders.

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Researchers developing new multiple sclerosis drug that can be taken orally

The Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded SRI International a one-year grant to develop a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune nervous system disease that affects about 400,000 people in the United States and more than two million people worldwide. There is currently no cure for this disorder, which can impair vision and movement.

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Mayo Clinic uses new approach to reverse multiple sclerosis in mice models

Mayo Clinic researchers have successfully used smaller, folded DNA molecules to stimulate regeneration and repair of nerve coatings in mice that mimic multiple sclerosis (MS). They say the finding, published today in the journal PLoS ONE, suggests new possible therapies for MS patients.

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‘Simple and effective’ injection could offer hope for treatment of autoimmune disease

Australian researchers have uncovered a potential new way to regulate the body’s natural immune response, offering hope of a simple and effective new treatment for auto-immune diseases.

Auto-immune diseases result from an overactive immune response that causes the body to attack itself.

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Growth factor in stem cells may spur recovery from MS

A substance in human mesenchymal stem cells that promotes growth appears to spur restoration of nerves and their function in rodent models of multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found.

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Clinical trial launches to see whether vitamin D helps treat multiple sclerosis

Doctors at several centers across the U.S. are recruiting people who have multiple sclerosis (MS) to determine the effectiveness of high-dose vitamin D supplements for reducing MS disease activity. The vitamins would be added to standard therapy with glatiramer acetate (Copaxone®, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries). The study, funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, is being led by Ellen Mowry, MD, MCR, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Other cities with centers recruiting participants include Portland, St. Louis, and San Francisco, and additional centers are being established.

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Interventional radiologists see ‘significant’ symptom relief in MS patients

Researchers who investigated the connection between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (a reported condition characterized as a blockage in the veins that drain blood from the brain and spinal cord and returns it to the heart) and multiple sclerosis indicate that a minimally invasive endovascular treatment for CCSVI, is safe and may produce “significant,” short-term improvement in physical- and mental health-related quality of life in individuals with MS. These findings were presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

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Recruitment starts on MS hookworm trial

Parasitic worms could offer a new treatment hope for patients suffering from the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, scientists believe.

Academics at The University of Nottingham have begun recruiting people suffering from the neurological condition on to a trial that will see them infected with a low, harmless dose of the helminth parasite Necator americanus — or hookworm.

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