This is obviously very good news. We have a method that at the least
halts disease progression. We swill take it. Most victims are
identified fairly early on just when they begin to notice a loss of
motor function somewhere on their bodies. Thus halting the
progression is extremely important as it will surely limit any
disability and ongoing care costs.
This is now possible and I am sure that we can discover if the
protocol is tolerated well pretty quickly. If so, then rapid
deployment will have a huge humane incentive simply to stop further
degeneration.
I do get the sense though that existing protocols can be applied here
and that is why a number of trials are already underway. A suitable
drug may already be approved.
University of
Adelaide scientists make multiple sclerosis progression breakthrough
October 03, 201210:30PM
UNIVERSITY of Adelaide
scientists have revealed breakthrough research that has the potential
to help prevent the progression of multiple sclerosis.
The researchers
successfully halted the autoimmune disease in mice.
They hold great hope
the same results can be reproduced among humans. MS Research
Australia research development manager Dr Lisa Melton said the study
results were "extremely exciting".
MS is a progressive
disease where the body attacks its own central nervous system,
causing nerve inflammation and scarring. It results in the impairment
of motor, sensory and cognitive function.
Dr Melton said it
provided fresh hope for the 23,000 MS sufferers in Australia.
"It won't be a
cure but it's another avenue by which we can reduce the inflammation
which damages the brain and spinal cord," she said.
"If this approach
works in humans, it would stop the inflammation," she said.
"But it won't
undo any damage to the nerves which has already occurred."
In animal trials, Dr
Iain Comerford and colleagues at the university successfully
prevented the progression of MS by inhibiting the molecule, known
as PI3Kgamma, which activates the cells that cause the immune system
to attack itself and cause the nerve damage.
The same molecule
has been successful in other autoimmune disorder trials.
Human trials were
underway in other labs around the world, but any drug would be at
least five years away, Dr Comerford said.
"In the animal
model, it was preventive and also we could reverse the disease, but
it remains to be seen whether that also happens in human beings,"
he said.
He said the damage
in MS sufferers was caused by white blood cells moving into and
attacking the central nervous system.
"We've inhibited
an enzyme, PI3Kgamma, which is involved in the activation and
migration of white blood cells," Dr Comerford said.
"The white blood
cells have to move from the blood into the nervous system to do
damage in MS.
"By doing that,
we reduce the activation of the white blood cells and reduce
the migration of the cells into the central nervous system."
Dr Comerford and his
team found that when PI3Kgamma was present, severe damage to myelin,
which insulates the nerves, was evident, resulting in inflammation in
the spinal cord and myelin loss.
The patient's immune
system would still function and provide immune responses which
protect against infection.
He said that none of
the existing drugs for MS patients was completely effective.
Dr Comerford's
research, which was published in the journal PLOS One, was
completed under a three-year fellowship from MS Research Australia.
Dr Melton said the
research delivered a more targeted approach, than existing drugs used
to treat MS.
"We've got drugs
that do really well at reducing the relapses which occur in MS but
nothing is perfect," she said. "They all have
side-effects," she said.
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