DiscoveR8 - News for Life Science

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Bayer drug delays MS in half of patients-MRI study

sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 3 weeks (www.alertnet.org)

A long-term study of brain scans in multiple sclerosis patients showed only about half of the patients who took the drug interferon beta 1-b got a long-lasting benefit, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Patients in the small, three-year study were treated with the Bayer drug, which is sold under the trade name Betaseron in the United States or Betaferon elsewhere.

The drug is designed to reduce the number of disease flareups.

Multiple sclerosis occurs when the immune system attacks the myelin sheath protecting nerve cells. It affects 2

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Therapeutic application of histone deacetylase inhibitors for central nervous system disorders

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) — enzymes that affect the acetylation status of histones and other important cellular proteins — have been recognized as potentially useful therapeutic targets for a broad range of human disorders. Pharmacological manipulations using small-molecule HDAC inhibitors — which may restore transcriptional balance to neurons, modulate cytoskeletal function, affect immune responses and enhance protein degradation pathways — have been beneficial in various experimental models of brain diseases

5

Therapeutic application of histone deacetylase inhibitors for central nervous system disorder

jerry submitted, created time 2 months 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) — enzymes that affect the acetylation status of histones and other important cellular proteins — have been recognized as potentially useful therapeutic targets for a broad range of human disorders. Pharmacological manipulations using small-molecule HDAC inhibitors — which may restore transcriptional balance to neurons, modulate cytoskeletal function, affect immune responses and enhance protein degradation pathways — have been beneficial in various experimental models of brain diseases

7

Link Between Vitamin D And Multiple Sclerosis

kavin submitted, created time 4 months 10 hours (www.medicalnewstoday.com)

Vitamin D, the principal regulator of calcium in the body, may prevent the production of malignant cells such as breast and prostate cancer cells and protect against specific autoimmune disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS) according to an article by Sylvia Christakos, PhD, of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.

In the article, Christakos reports that research shows that the incidence of MS decreases as the amount of vitamin D available to the body increases, either through sunlight exposure or diet

7

Interferon-Beta: Mode of Action in EAE

jerry submitted, created time 7 months 1 week (www.immunity.com)

Interferon-β (IFN-β) is widely used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of how it suppresses autoimmunity in the central nervous system is unknown. Researchers find that IFN-β in the brain acts primarily on myeloid cells such as macrophages and microglia to suppress inflammation by blocking several important functions

6

Vaporization provides safer delivery for medical marijuana

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.nature.com)

Marijuana is used as a painkiller, appetite stimulant and nausea suppressant in patients with glaucoma, AIDS, MS and who are on chemotherapy, but smoking introduces harmful carcinogens and ingestion can degrade the active components. Still, I'm somehow not surprised that this study comes out of UC San Francisco.

Vaporization works on several other whole-plant substances. I heard that a company or two was working on an insulin inhaler for a while, but I don't think they had much luck.

5

Worms may keep multiple sclerosis at bay

Hecate submitted, created time 1 year 11 months (www.nature.com)

It seems that roundworms may mitigate multiple sclerosis. The study was performed in Argentina, on twenty-four people with MS, half of whom became infected with parasites over the course of four years. The infected half hadsignificant fewer brain lesions and a dramatically lower rate of relapse.

This was not a blind study and there were only twelve subjects, so while people are saying that this supports the hygiene hypothesis, no one's jumping and screaming. I would love to see more work done on this, but I would not want to be the one recruiting volunteers.