Familiar Drug May Help MS Patients
Using a common antibiotic that has long been given to treat infections, researchers may have found a promising treatment for multiple sclerosis, a baffling and devastating disease of the central nervous system.
In tests of the drug minocycline, a team led by UW-Madison neurology Professor Ian Duncan found reason to believe that the drug could decrease the severity of MS attacks or block the onset of relapses. Most MS patients suffer from a relapsing-remitting form of the disease, which can lead to a chronic progression of attacks that damage the nervous system. There is no known cause or cure, and treatments to date have proved only partially effective.
The team tested the drug on rats with a condition that mimics MS. Animals treated with minocycline did not develop neurological dysfunction or had less severe courses of the disease, says Duncan. "We therefore think that a similar therapy could be used in MS patients with early relapsing-remitting disease," he says.
In tests of the drug minocycline, a team led by UW-Madison neurology Professor Ian Duncan found reason to believe that the drug could decrease the severity of MS attacks or block the onset of relapses. Most MS patients suffer from a relapsing-remitting form of the disease, which can lead to a chronic progression of attacks that damage the nervous system. There is no known cause or cure, and treatments to date have proved only partially effective.
The team tested the drug on rats with a condition that mimics MS. Animals treated with minocycline did not develop neurological dysfunction or had less severe courses of the disease, says Duncan. "We therefore think that a similar therapy could be used in MS patients with early relapsing-remitting disease," he says.
Duncan adds that the drug proved successful in animals both before and after the onset of the disease, which suggests that minocycline could be given to patients who start to show signs of neurologic illness to forestall its progress.
MS is characterized by inflammation and eventual loss of the myelin sheaths that protect cells of the central nervous system. The researchers believe that the antibiotic interferes with the process by inhibiting the activation of microglial cells that assist the destruction.
Patients with MS will begin testing the drug next year, as the first phase of clinical trials.
MS is characterized by inflammation and eventual loss of the myelin sheaths that protect cells of the central nervous system. The researchers believe that the antibiotic interferes with the process by inhibiting the activation of microglial cells that assist the destruction.
Patients with MS will begin testing the drug next year, as the first phase of clinical trials.
