Scientists Work On Cure For Nerve Disease

[Guest guest]

Scientists Work On Cure For Nerve Disease

August 16, 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dr. Kerr painstakingly collected spinal fluid from hundreds of

patients with a mysterious disease that can paralyze within hours of

attacking -- and thinks he may have found a way to fight back.

Transverse myelitis,

which is inflammation of the spinal cord, is rare. But, importantly, it

may share common triggers and treatment approaches with a dozen illnesses

-- such as Guillain-Barre, myasthenia gravis,

multiple sclerosis -- that all attack the nerves, spinal cord or brain.

So Kerr is bringing international

specialists together in Baltimore this week to pool their resources in the fight

against these diseases. And furiously taking notes will be dozens of

patients desperate to learn the latest research, an unusual meeting

largely due to the relentless campaigning of a teenager.

" This is a really big dream of

mine, " says Cody Unser, who is paralyzed

from the chest down by transverse myelitis.

" All the doctors, now they're sharing data and talking, and that

never was before. " She is the daughter of race car driver Al Unser Jr.

Seeing patients in the audience, the Albuquerque, N.M., 17-year-old believes, is an important motivator for

researchers more used to a lab: " There's this understanding of what

science means to a person. "

Neuroimmunologic diseases can have very different symptoms: Some

kill or paralyze; others weaken or blind. Some patients recover, although

there's no good way to predict. But the underlying mystery is why the

immune system suddenly malfunctions and attacks the central nervous

system.

Now research is pointing to a host of

potential culprits these illnesses may share, disease triggers and

damage-spurring abnormalities that in turn suggest new treatment

strategies.

" We think we're on the verge of

better, more targeted therapies for the immune system gone amok, "

says Kerr, who heads the transverse myelitis

center at s Hopkins University and is coordinating the neuroimmunology

meeting, which begins Thursday.

On the agenda:

Scientists recently discovered that an anemia

drug called erythropoietin, or EPO, seems to protect central nervous

system cells from inflammatory damage. A Hopkins

researcher, Sanjay Keswani, is beginning a

study of whether EPO can protect patients' spinal cords from

transverse myelitis' inflammatory assault.

Kerr's own study of spinal fluid found that

transverse myelitis patients harbor the

chemical interleukin-6 at " levels never before seen in human

disease. " At high levels, the normally protective chemical

turns deadly, triggering a cascade of cellular aberrations that

ultimately chews up spinal cord cells, he explains.

Thalidomide, the

notorious birth defect-causing drug now used to treat leprosy, can block

IL-6, Kerr says. If upcoming animal tests pan out, he hopes to begin

studies in transverse myelitis patients early

next year.

" Molecular mimics " may explain why

these diseases sometimes strike after simple bacterial or viral

illnesses. For example, Guillain-Barre

syndrome sometimes strikes after the diarrhea-causing food-poisoning

bug campylobacter. It turns out that a certain campylobacter

strain's molecular shape looks, to the immune system's attacking

antibodies, just like certain nerve cells.

Then there are chemokines,

proteins that guide infection-fighting white blood cells to their

target. But chemokines act in the development

and functioning of the nervous system, too, in ways that can either

protect or further harm, says Dr. Ransohoff

of the Cleveland Clinic. Early-stage studies of chemokine-blocking

drugs are under way for multiple sclerosis.

For restoring function, scientists also are

trying to manipulate the body's master stem cells to fix damaged

spinal cords. But it will require years more work. This is pretty

in-depth science for laymen. But when transverse myelitis

struck Cody Unser in 1999, she and her mother,

, discovered the difficulty in getting information about this

rare disease, which afflicts 34,000 Americans.

They started a

research-advocacy foundation that pushed for patient-scientist meetings,

and Kerr urged including related diseases. " We could become much

more powerful in studying this together than individually, " he

explains.

Hearing the

science, patients " feel kind of intimidated at first, " Cody

acknowledges. But the opportunity to question specialists is invaluable,

and learning about even early-stage research " makes me feel there is

hope. "

Copyright

2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Hugs,

Deanna

LUPUS Serenity

Prayer...

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot

change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the

bodies of doctors I shot when they said, You're perfectly healthy, it's all in

your head "