The MS Hug???

The MS Hug: What Is It? How Is It Treated?

http://www.healthline.com/health/multiple-sclerosis/ms-hug#WhatIsMS1

Scientists fault gene mutation for inflammation

A new mouse model study has identified a faulty "brake" within immune cells, one that should control inflammation, and points to a potential target for developing new therapies to treat multiple sclerosis. The results suggest new research models of multiple sclerosis symptoms such as movement disorders and balance control problems.

A mutation in the gene Nlrp12 was causing a malfunction in T cells. Normally, the protein the gene produces acts as a brake within T cells to control the inflammatory response. But a mutation in that gene disrupts the natural process and provokes severe inflammation. The resulting inflammation produced MS symptoms such as movement disorders and problems with balance control.

Results of mouse model studies sometimes do not translate to humans and may be years away from being a marketable treatment. However, according to researcher John Lukens, Ph.D., of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, "It's important to note that MS is a spectrum disorder - some patients present with paralyzing conditions and some patients don't. Not everybody's symptoms are the same, so this might give us a glimpse into the etiology or pathogenesis of that family of MS."

Study Uncovers Gene Variation Linked to Response to MS Therapy; May Open Up New Treatment Approaches

Collaborating researchers in the U.S. and Italy have uncovered a gene variant that appears to influence whether a person responds well to interferon beta, a commonly used therapy for relapsing forms of MS. More broadly, the gene may regulate immune activity in unexpected ways, and its discovery may lead to new approaches to stopping inflammation and immune attacks in MS. Drs. Federica Esposito and Filippo Martinelli Boneschi (San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan), Philip L. De Jager (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston) and colleagues have published their results in the Annals of Neurology (Early online May 14, 2015). The study was supported by the National MS Society and several other agencies.
Background: For reasons that are unclear, some people with relapsing forms of MS do not respond well to therapy and continue to experience disease activity despite being on a disease-modifying therapy. Previous genetic studies in MS have uncovered over 159 genetic variations that contribute to making people susceptible to developing MS, but these studies haven’t identified genetic variations that influence how a person responds to treatment. Finding a way to identify early in the disease course the best therapy for an individual – a “personalized medicine” approach – is likely to improve outcomes of treatment and quality of life for people living with MS. One of the lead authors of this study, Dr. De Jager, recently won the Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research for tackling critical questions like this with the goal of developing personalized treatments and prevention of MS.
This Study: Trying a different approach to search for genetic influences on treatment responses, the investigators first studied a group of individuals with MS who were taking interferon beta or glatiramer acetate. The individuals were classified as being responders, partial responders, or non-responders to their medication based on specific criteria. Then the researchers analyzed their full complement of genes (genome-wide association study) and found one genetic variant that was consistently associated with lack of response to interferon beta. When the researchers repeated this in three other groups of people with MS from Italy, France and the U.S., this finding held up.
The genetic variant (rs9828519) is near a gene (SLC9A9) that controls pH levels (acidity) within cells. The team explored functions of this gene, and found that its activity was diminished in people more likely to have MS relapses. They also conducted laboratory work, finding suggestions that the gene appears to play a role in regulating immune cell activity, and that its loss leads to damaging immune reactions. This suggests the gene may play a broader role in regulating immune activity.
Comment: Although the results of this study are not yet ready for applying to the management of MS, this discovery may lead to new approaches for stopping inflammation and immune attacks in MS. In addition, this study is an important step toward the goal of personalized medicine. The researchers point out that additional research is warranted to confirm their findings and to determine whether the genetic variant is relevant to how well people respond to other MS medications.

Researchers implicate chemical in MS

A new study confirms that the cytokine granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) likely plays an important role in multiple sclerosis. Researchers also offer a new explanation for why the MS treatment interferon-Beta (INF-β) is often effective at reducing attacks.
Researchers, led by Abdolmohamad Rostami, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University and director of its neuroimmunology laboratory, tested blood samples of patients with MS who had not yet received therapy, and those currently being treated with INF-β, a commonly used therapy. On average, untreated patients had two to three times as many immune cells producing GM-CSF as did patients being treated with INF-β, or normal subjects. Researchers looked at brain samples of deceased patients with MS and found increased numbers of GM-CSF-producing cells in comparison to normal brain samples.
“Abundant GM-CSF production at the sites of CNS inflammation suggests that GM-CSF contributes to MS pathogenesis. Our findings also reveal a potential mechanism of IFN-β therapy, namely suppression of GM-CSF production,” the authors said.
The findings were published online in the Journal of Immunology.