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  • View Article  Study - DNA Vaccines May Offer Hope In MS
    Authors from the VA North Texas Health Care System Neurology Section and the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have highlighted the potential benefits for DNA-based vaccine administration in   more »
    View Article  Brain Training
    "Mind games may improve our performance at work", reads the headline in The Times. The newspaper reports that a new study has shown that volunteers who took part in "rigorous   more »
    View Article  Atacicept Phase 2 Clinical Trial In Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
    ZymoGenetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZGEN), announced that its development partner Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial to   more »
    View Article  Imaging correlates of decreased axonal lesions
    Degeneration of chronically demyelinated axons is a major cause of irreversible neurological decline in the human central nervous system disease, multiple sclerosis (MS). Although the molecular   more »
    View Article  Prozac may help to curb disease activity in RRMs
    The antidepressant Prozac may help to curb disease activity in the relapsing remitting form of multiple sclerosis (MS), reveals preliminary research published ahead of print in the Journal of   more »
    View Article  List of Research Topics for the Early Part of May
    List of Research Topics for the Early Part of May Axonal loss in the retinal nerve fiber layer in patients with multiple sclerosis. Glatiramer acetate after induction therapy with   more »
    View Article  mechanisms of damage and repair in multiple sclerosis
    The neuropathology of multiple sclerosis is characterised by focal damage to white matter. However, tissue damage is also present in the cortical grey matter, with a particularly high   more »
    View Article  Combination therapies in multiple sclerosis.

    Combination therapies in multiple sclerosis.

     

     

     The last years have seen enormous progress in our understanding of pathophysiology (1) of multiple sclerosis. In addition, the armamentarium (2) of available immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive therapies (3) has greatly increased, especially for the relapsing remitting form of the disease.

     

    Since their therapeutic efficacy is often limited in individual patients, it is conceivable that combination therapies may bring improved clinical efficacy while managing increasing side effects and toxicity. The combination of agents with additive or synergistic modes of action is of particular interest. Combination of the two classes of recognised first-line treatment, a beta-interferon and glatiramer acetate is currently under evaluation in a large Phase III trial.

     

    However, there are theoretical reasons for thinking that such a combination may not be particularly beneficial. None of the combination studies performed with beta-interferons to date have shown unequivocal evidence of benefit, including combinations with statins, natalizumab, and azathioprine.

     

    On the other hand, for glatiramer acetate, the combination with mitoxantrone used as induction therapy may be of interest and preliminary data on combination with minocycline are also promising.

     

    University of Bochum,

    St. Josef-Hospital,

    Dept. of Neurology,

    Gudrunstr. 56, 44791,

    Bochum, Germany.

     

     

    Terms:

    1. pathophysiology - The study of such changes.
    2. Armamentarium - the equipment and materials of the clinician
    3. - immunomodulatory agents that alter the immune response by suppression or enhancement
    View Article  Research - balance between short and long-term therapies
    Multiple sclerosis is a lifelong, immune-mediated progressive disorder. The early age of onset and the chronic nature of the disease with accumulation of physical disability, demand a long-term ("lifelong") management, including   more »
    View Article  Th17–ELR+ CXC chemokine pathway
    The ELR+ CXC chemokines CXCL1 and CXCL2 are up-regulated in the central nervous system (CNS) during multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune   more »
    View Article  Combination therapies in multiple sclerosis.
    The last years have seen enormous progress in our understanding of pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis. In addition, the armamentarium of available immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive therapies has greatly increased, especially   more »
    View Article  Short and long-term treatment opintions in MS
    Multiple sclerosis is a lifelong, immune-mediated progressive disorder. The early age of onset and the chronic nature of the disease with accumulation of physical disability, demand a long-term ("lifelong") management, including disease-modifying   more »
    View Article  Foot Drop Helped by Botulinum
    Botulinum toxin type A injections can decrease spasticity and improve quality of life in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with spastic foot drop, according to   more »
    View Article  Interferon Beta-1a Therapy Improves Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis
    One year of treatment with interferon beta-1a significantly improves the quality of life for individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers reported here at the   more »
    View Article  Pre-Clinical Study in MS Model Significant
    Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PSTI) (DAX:PJT) a bio-therapeutics company dedicated to the commercialization of non-personalized (allogeneic) [1] cell therapy products for a variety of degenerative, ischemic and autoimmune indications, announced today that a preclinical study utilizing the   more »