Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Support Group

BioWorld Today May 2004

"Fampridine-SR is believed to restore function
by pharmacologically compensating for myelin loss in
some axons, the Mayo monoclonals might actually replace
the lost myelin – helping MS patients do even better."

"102 blood donors with abnormal antibodies cranked out in large
numbers by the misdirected B cells. Patients had various
blood dyscrasias, including lymphomas, myelomas and
something called “macroglobulinemia of uncertain significance,”
but it didn’t really matter which they had, since all led
to the same disorder: an abundance of IgM, the heaviest hitter
of the body’s 10 immunoglobulins." "Mayo’s scientists infected
mice with a toxic virus – Theiler’s murine
encephalomyelitis – that demyelinated the animals’ axons,
leading to the paralysis common in MS, thereby providing a
more precise mimic of that disease.
Then they cut loose the monoclonals. Result: Mice
rebuilt myelin in their spinal cords, but showed no change
in MS scores and they remained paralyzed. Researchers
gave treatment late in the disease, figuring results might be
easier to notice. Had the virus not reached chronic stage
when the drug was given, they surmised, outcomes might
have been better.
They were right. Since the first Mayo work, investigators
have shown “you can get even more re-myelination if you
treat [the mice] early,” Blight told BioWorld Today. And the
results seem more real than those gained in the past"

http://www.bioworld.com/servlet/co...
Posted on 05/03/08, 09:05 pm