Tuesday, November 08, 2005
MS in the cross-hairs again
Caught this one over at Toni's house: MyView:
A new pathway for treating multiple sclerosis may have been found, if “exciting” results in mice can be replicated in humans.
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But researchers trying a novel therapy on a mouse version of MS report that the mice showed “almost no inflammation of the myelin sheath and no nerve damage”. Furthermore, MS is characterised by periods of remission and relapse, but the mice recovered with fewer and far less severe relapses.
The therapy targets immune system cells called T-cells. These malfunction in MS patients, producing inflammatory molecules that destroy the myelin sheath. The new treatment, which uses a class of molecules called kynurenines, works by inhibiting the T-cells’ production of inflammatory molecules and prompting them to produce agents that “mop up” the molecules.
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First, they selected a break-down product – a kynurenine – of a naturally occurring amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is a constituent of most proteins and is known to play an important role in immunity.
The group then induced an MS-type illness called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in 24 mice. On the occasion of their first relapse half were given a daily dose of a synthetic version of the kynurenine for 49 days.
“All the mice went into remission, but the mice on the tablets stayed healthy for much longer," says Platten. "The relapses were far less severe and they did not have a return of the paralysis. The drug actually suppressed the disease and slowed its progression.” [editor emphasis]
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Another advantage kynurenine has over other candidate treatments is that it is has already proved its safety. Not only is it a derivative of an amino acid that occurs naturally in the human body, but it has passed phase I clinical trials in Japan as a potential treatment for allergy sufferers.
“I expect we will be able to proceed directly to phase II clinical trials in patients in 2006 and start helping people with MS,” Steinman says.
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