Possible MS treatment breakthrough

[n2doc]

by Marla Paul
CHICAGO --- A phase 1 clinical trial for the first treatment to reset the immune system of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients showed the therapy was safe and dramatically reduced patients’ immune systems’ reactivity to myelin by 50 to 75 percent, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.

In MS, the immune system attacks and destroys myelin, the insulating layer that forms around nerves in the spinal cord, brain and optic nerve. When the insulation is destroyed, electrical signals can’t be effectively conducted, resulting in symptoms that range from mild limb numbness to paralysis or blindness.

“The therapy stops autoimmune responses that are already activated and prevents the activation of new autoimmune cells,” said Stephen Miller, the Judy Gugenheim Research Professor of Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Our approach leaves the function of the normal immune system intact. That’s the holy grail.”

Miller is the co-senior author of a paper on the study, which was published June 5 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The study is a collaboration between Northwestern’s Feinberg School, University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland and University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany.

In the trial, the MS patients’ own specially processed white blood cells were used to stealthily deliver billions of myelin antigens into their bodies so their immune systems would recognize them as harmless and develop tolerance to them.

more

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2013/06/big-multiple-sclerosis-breakthrough.html

[southernyankeebelle]

1. Oh I sure hope this is really promising for MS patience. I had a brother-in-law that

had it for years and by the end it was terrible. I pray for a real break through.

[Warpy]

2. I wonder if this is specific to MS

or it signals at least a line of research for all the rest of us alphabet soup gimps.

[n2doc]

3. They note that it could work as a method to treat other autoimmune diseases

I hope that is true.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. I hope so

[NV Whino]

4. I'm sending this on to my neurologist

He's probably already on top of it, but you never know.

[babylonsister]

6. Rec'd! nt

[GentryDixon]

7. I hope this truly works.

My beautiful niece Shanni was just rushed to the hospital by ambulance. I am still waiting on word whether it is MS related or not. This is such a terrible disease. She is so young, with too much to live for.