Fw: MS Discoveries Edge Closer to Cure

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From: " Kathi " <pureheart@...>

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Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 11:41 PM

Subject: MS Discoveries Edge Closer to Cure

> Thanks Gigi!!

>

> Chemicals May Stop Tissue Damage

>

> By Warner

>

> May 31, 2002 -- Although researchers stop short of using the term

> " cure, " several new discoveries may provide scientists with valuable

> clues about what causes multiple sclerosis and how to stop the nerve

> damage it causes.

>

> In a study published in the June 2002 issue of Brain, Mayo Clinic

> researchers report they have found an enzyme that seems to play a role

> in spurring the tissue damage that occurs in MS and other similar

> diseases. Meanwhile, two new studies in the June 2002 issue of the

> journal Nature Medicine show that having high levels of body chemicals

> known as cytokines may help protect crucial nerve cells from damage.

>

> Although the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) is unknown, it's thought

> that the disease occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks

> the insulation surrounding nerve cells. This insulation helps nerves

> conduct electrical impulses, allowing us to perform functions from

> movement to speech to vision to swallowing. The attack triggers a

> cascade of problems that eventually results in the loss of this

> insulation, a process called demyelination.

>

> The condition affects about one out of every 1,000 people, but it's more

> common among women than men. MS typically strikes people between the

> ages of 20 and 40, with symptoms ranging from numbness and tingling to

> incontinence and paralysis.

>

> In their study, Mayo Clinic researchers say they have found a dramatic

> increase in a newly discovered enzyme called MSP (myelencephalo-specific

> protease) in tissue samples damaged by MS.

>

> " If you could control this enzyme, you could possibly decrease the

> development of the disease, " says study author Isobel Scarisbrick, PhD,

> a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in a news release.

> " We're not reporting this as a cure, but it represents something that

> could be targeted for therapy. "

>

> Scarisbrick and colleagues are now developing tools to work with the

> enzyme and attempt to determine exactly what role it plays in the

> demyelination process.

>

> In related research, two studies from the University of Wuerzburg in

> Austria and University of Melbourne in Australia shed light on the

> process of nerve cell damage that occurs in MS. Their research points to

> two cytokine chemicals in the body that may play a role in protecting

> some of the cells involved in this process.

>

> The Austrian research team found mice that lacked the cytokine CNTF had

> a more severe form of MS than others. They suggest that this substance

> may protect certain nerve cells from damage.

>

> The Australian team found that another cytokine, called Leukemia

> Inhibitory Factor (LIF), can reverse the loss of cells normally found in

> mice with MS. They say LIF has already been tested in humans and has

> been well tolerated in doses similar to those used in this animal study.

>

> Researchers say these findings may serve as the basis for a new way to

> treat MS by targeting the process of cell damage itself.

>

> © 2002 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.

>

>