Everything multiple sclerosis
Studies on rats by Cambridge and Edinburgh University researchers identified how to help stem cells in the brain regenerate myelin sheath, needed to protect nerve fibres.
MS charities said the “exciting” Nature Neuroscience work offered hope of restoring physical functions.
But they cautioned it would be some years before treatments were developed.
More about BBC News – Study offers hope of ‘repairing’ MS damage
Talking about BioNews – Multiple Sclerosis stem cell therapy trialled
A clinical trial investigating the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using bone marrow stem cells has produced encouraging results, researchers at Bristol University have reported.
In the phase I clinical trial, six MS patients were injected with stem cells harvested from their own bone marrow. The main aim of the study was to determine whether this procedure was safe and free from side effects. The researchers also regularly tested the patients for disease progression.
Talking about Stem cell ‘reboot’ promising as MS cure
Stem cells are harvested from the patient’s blood. Next, the patient’s immune system is destroyed through intense chemotherapy. Then the stem cells are reintroduced with the hope that when the immune system grows back, it will no longer attack the nervous system.
“Kind of like rebooting a computer,” said the Windsor man.
Multiple sclerosis causes the body’s own immune system to attack the fatty myelin sheaths that surround the axons that transmit electrical signals between the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This hampers the ability of the cells to communicate, leading to a weakening and wasting of the muscles.
Freedman and Atkins plan to release the results of the research later this year.