The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre

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Tagline: Multiple Sclerosis, MS, MSRC
Me, Myself, and I: The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre (MSRC) is a proactive and innovative charity, passionately committed to supporting anyone affected by Multiple Sclerosis through access to unbiased information and advice. Our approach is to encourage individuals to make choices that are appropriate to their daily lives, empowering them to maximise their potential.

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Crossing the line: how aggressive cells invade the brain

In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cells of the immune system infiltrate the brain tissue, where they cause immense damage.

For many years, it was an enigma as to how these cells can escape from the bloodstream.

This is no trivial feat, given that specialised blood vessels act as a barrier between the nervous system and the bloodstream. Until now, tissue sections provided the sole evidence that the immune cells really do manage to reach the nerve cells.

Now, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, the University Medical Center Göttingen, and other institutes, has witnessed the movements of these cells "live" under the microscope for the very first time. In the process, they discovered several new behavioural traits of the immune cells.

The consolidated findings mark a significant step forward in our understanding of this complex disease ("Effector T cell interactions with meningeal vascular structures in nascent autoimmune CNS lesions").

The brain and the spinal cord monitor and control the functions of all body parts and co-ordinate the whole organism's movements, senses and behaviour. Adequate protection of the brain and spinal cord are therefore of the utmost importance. Physical influences and injuries are warded off by the cranial bone and the vertebral column. Dangers lurking within the body, such as viruses circulating in the bloodstream, are kept at bay by highly specialized blood vessels. The vessels' walls form a barrier that cannot be penetrated by the cells or various other small particles, thus serving to protect the delicate nerve cells.

There are, however, exceptions to the rule. In diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), aggressive cells in the immune system manage to break through the blood vessels' barrier. Having invaded the brain tissue, these cells wreak havoc by triggering off inflammatory reactions and attacking nerve cells. In Germany alone, the resulting adverse effects afflict over 120,000 MS-patients.

Tracking down the culprits
Since there is normally a clear division between the blood circulatory system and the central nervous system (i.e. brain plus spinal cord), scientists were baffled as to how immune cells manage to cross the blood-brain-barrier. This knowledge may aid in understanding the origins of multiple sclerosis. In the 1980s, scientists were able to prove conclusively that, under certain conditions, so called T-cells can recognize and attack components of the body's own brain cells. Thanks to tissue sections performed over the last few decades, scientists now have much better knowledge of the migration of these cells from their point of origin to their point of penetration into the brain and the damage that they cause. However, actual observations of such movements long remained impossible.

Observing aggressive cells in action
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, the University Medical Center Göttingen and their colleagues have now overcome this impossibility. Using a two-photon microscope, the researchers succeeded in tracing the movements of aggressive T-cells labelled with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the living tissue of rats. The systematic observation of these cells during the course of the disease provided amazing new insights into the cell's behaviour.

The scientists discovered that the aggressive T-cells overcome the barrier between blood and nerve tissue in a number of steps. Outside the nervous system, the labelled cells moved just as we would expect them to; most cells were floating along with the flow of the bloodstream. Only now and again did a cell attach itself briefly onto the vascular wall. Here they rolled in the direction of the blood stream or were being carried off again by the current. Yet, once the cells reached the blood vessels of the nervous system, they began to act in a completely different manner.

The scientists observed here far more cells clinging to

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Study looks at Multiple Sclerosis relapses and effects on disability

The study is one of the first to examine how MS relapses affect people during different time periods of the disease.

Research shows that 85 percent of people with MS begin by having the relapsing-remitting form of the disease and the majority of these people later develop secondary progressive MS. A relapse is defined in the study as worsening of neurological symptoms for more than 24 hours, without a fever or infection. Because relapse-related symptoms often improve within a few weeks, it's been unclear how much disability comes from relapses, and how much from progression.

For the study, scientists reviewed the medical records of 2,477 people with MS who experienced relapses in British Columbia, Canada. The study looked at whether the participants had disability severe enough to require the use of a cane for walking and whether this was related to relapses occurring within five years, five to 10 years, or more than 10 years after onset of symptoms. The participants were followed for an average of 20 years. During that time, the group experienced 11,722 relapses.

Scientists found that people who had a relapse within five years of disease onset were at a 48 percent higher hazard (a measure of relative risk) of needing a cane to walk within five years of disease onset than those who did not have an early relapse. Importantly, the impact of the early relapse lessened over time. Those with early relapse who did not need a cane after five years were at only a 10 percent higher hazard (a measure of relative risk) of needing one 10 years after disease onset than those without early relapses.

"Our findings may represent an important message to people diagnosed with MS today. Those who have a history of relapses could potentially be offered reassurance that as time goes on, these relapses will have a diminishing effect on their everyday lives," said study author Helen Tremlett, PhD, with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. "In addition, our study calls upon the need for new medications that target axonal degeneration, which is suspected of causing permanent disability, especially for people who have had MS for many years or who are older at diagnosis."

The impact of relapses that occurred later, either at five to 10 or more than 10 years after the start of the disease, also waned over time and became insignificant after long-term follow up. Relapses in people under 25 had a longer impact on disability compared to those over 35 years.

"There may be a longer window of opportunity for treating younger people with MS right away, changing the course of progression later on," Tremlett said.

Source: Disabled World © Disabled World 2009 (06/11/09)

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Schoolboy campaigner backs Multiple Sclerosis vitamin D summit

A major international summit on the links between multiple sclerosis and vitamin D deficiency, supported by the Scottish government, is to take place in Scotland early next year thanks to the efforts of a campaigning schoolboy.

Ryan McLaughlin, 14, whose mother suffers from the disease, said yesterday he was delighted that that Ministers were backing an opportunity to explore the growing evidence that lack of the vitamin could be implicated in the high incidence of the disease.

The summit will bring together government health advisers as well as researchers from Britain and countries such as Canada, where much work has been done on MS, and where supplementation of vitamin D is officially advocated in the general population.

The Scottish conference will be organised by the MS Society and Shine on Scotland, Ryan’s group. News of the event follows a long campaign by The Times to highlight evidence that shortage of vitamin D, caused by Scotland’s lack of sunshine, could be linked to the country’s record for chronic ill health, including cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Yesterday, the petitions committee at Holyrood supported Ryan’s call for new guidelines on vitamin D supplements for pregnant women and young children, and agreed to take the issue forward.

Alan McLaughlin, Ryan’s father, said he was “a little disappointed” the matter had not been referred to the health committee, but said the family was still confident that Parliament would carry out the inquiries into the disease which they sought.

He said the family had had a meeting with Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary, and Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health, and had been told that the government would also support a clinical trial in one of Scotland’s major cities to test pregnant women for their levels of vitamin D.

The Scottish government told the campaigners in September that an awareness campaign highlighting the importance of vitamin D was under “active consideration,” and promised new guidelines on the use of the vitamin by children, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

However, it ruled out free vitamin D supplements for all pregnant and breastfeeding women, and said there were no plans to introduce the supplements in the form of fortified milk or other drinks at school.Link

In its response to Ryan’s petition, the government said it was fully committed to improving the understanding and treatment of MS, although it said much of the evidence of a link between vitamin D and the disease was at an early stage and further work was needed before any definitive clonclusions be drawn.

Alan McLaughlin described the Government response as “very supportive” of their broad aims. He said that Ms Sturgeon had also been supportive of the idea of government funding for a clinical trial in a major Scottish city in which thousands of pregnant women would have their vitamin D levels taken, in order to determine the prevalence of deficiency. The research would be carried out by the University of Edinburgh.

Mr McLaughlin pointed out that American scientists, meeting in Boston two weeks ago, have evaluated the feasibility of conducting what would be the largest clinical study ever undertaken to explore the role that vitamin D may play in MS.

David McNiven, director of MS Society Scotland, said: “We have been asked to deliver the summit but we haven’t yet sat down and worked out the logistics of it. It will be early next year in Edinburgh.”

A spokesman for the Scottish government said: “We’re keen to learn all we can about any possible links between Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis and are keeping a very close eye on all the emerging evidence.

“During a very positive meeting with Shine On Scotland the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon supported proposals to organise a summit on MS and its links to Vitamin D, details on this will be made available once plans are finalised.

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The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre posted a blog.

1 day ago

Crossing the line: how aggressive cells invade the brain

In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cells of the immune system infiltrate the brain tissue, wher

The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre posted a blog.

1 day ago

Study looks at Multiple Sclerosis relapses and effects on disability

The study is one of the first to examine how MS relapses affect people during different time periods

The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre posted a blog.

3 days ago

Schoolboy campaigner backs Multiple Sclerosis vitamin D summit

A major international summit on the links between multiple sclerosis and vitamin D deficiency, suppo

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Multiple Sclerosis in Children
by The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre
A major new article on Multiple Sclerosis in Children has been published by the The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario Canada

You can read the complete article at MSRC: About MS : Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuse...
0 Replys 34 weeks
Genetics studies provide new clues to why people develop MS
by The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre
New studies are deciphering the complex picture of genetic characteristics that make people susceptible to MS, thanks to international collaborations and unique population studies. Each gives important new clues about why people get MS. Additional large-scale studies, the first stages of which are already underway, promise to uncover the great majority of genes that convey risk for MS, which would pave the way for understanding the basic cause of MS and developing more rational therapies.

CD58 Gene: When it completed the largest replicated whole genome scan (scan of all the genes in the body) for MS to date, the International MS Genetics Consortium (IMSGC) identified and validated variations in two genes that help regulate the immune system as clearly increasing genetic susceptibility to MS, and preliminarily identified several other genes of newly suspected importance in MS. Philip De Jager, MD, PhD (Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston) and colleagues in the IMSGC now report on one of these other genes, CD58, which instructs the activation of T cells, major players in the immune attack on the brain and spinal cord in MS. They studied this gene in 1530 additional people with MS, and found further evidence of its association with the disease. They pinpointed a specific marker, or segment of DNA, on the gene that is associated with reduced susceptibility to MS. They also showed that the level of CD58 expression (that is, the amount of CD58 protein that is produced from the CD58 gene) is associated with remissions from MS disease activity. Manipulating CD58 is a strategy used in treat other autoimmune diseases, so this study may open up new therapeutic options for people with MS. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A 2009 Feb 23)........................

For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : MS and Genetics Research - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuse...

0 Replys 35 weeks
Report reveals the importance of studying Multiple Sclerosis in children
by The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre
An article published in the Spring 2009 edition of Multiple Sclerosis Quarterly Report, a joint publication of United Spinal Association and the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS), reveals the importance of understanding the biological onset of Multiple Sclerosis in children as it can also lead to a greater understanding and treatment of MS in adults.

The article by Jean Marie B. Ahorro, MD and Brenda L. Banwell, MD of The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario Canada, highlights some of the latest information on paediatric MS, including risk factors, diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment strategies.

Presently, most care models for paediatric MS are based on protocols optimized in adults and pivotal studies of MS therapies are restricted to patients over 18 years of age. Conducting randomized control trials of paediatric MS has also been challenged by the rarity of the disease in children......................

For the full report please go to MSRC: MS Research News : Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis Research - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuse...

0 Replys 35 weeks