Hormone produced in pregnancy may hold key to reversing some damage from MS


CALGARY (CP) –

The miracle of life could eventually hold the key to a miracle of sorts for thousands of people who have multiple sclerosis, say researchers at the University of Calgary.

Between 55,000 and 75,000 Canadians and about 2.5 million people worldwide have MS, a chronic disease in which the body's own immune system attacks myelin, a fatty substance coating the brain and spinal cord.  The resulting damage causes lesions that make it difficult for messages to travel through the central nervous system, leading to a progressive loss of sensation and movement.

But there is evidence that MS goes into remission when women become pregnant, and in some cases the body actually begins to repair some of the damage.

Researchers found the hormone prolactin, which is produced during pregnancy and breastfeeding, encouraged the spontaneous production of myelin in the brains and spinal cords of pregnant mice.  In addition, during pregnancy, the immune system no longer destroyed myelin.

Results of the Calgary study are being published in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"If you put it all together, it suggests that increases in prolactin makes more myelin, which may contribute to some of the repair that is seen during pregnancy in MS," explained Dr. Samuel Weiss, senior author of the study and director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

"It also suggests that prolactin itself may be a potential therapeutic model for treating MS."

All current treatments for the disease target the immune system in the early stages, but once the lesions form on the brain and spinal cord, there are no treatments.

It will probably be several years before studies can be done on human subjects, and the hormone represents only a potential treatment and not a cure, cautioned Weiss.

But Dianne Rogers, 37, sees reason for hope.  The woman originally from Montreal was diagnosed with MS when she was 25.  Two years ago she gave birth to her daughter Sarah and did notice a difference during pregnancy.

"The pregnancy was pretty benign and I did not have the same symptoms as I have normally.  That was wonderful actually," she remembered.

"It was like a birthday present and a Christmas present all rolled in together.  It was like, wow, something I don't have to worry about or think about."

But the pregnancy came at a cost.  She had been in a relapse for six years before her pregnancy and things have worsened since.

"A month and a bit after, I ended up in a severe relapse.  As soon as those pregnancy hormones were gone, slam - I was right into it again."

Rogers, who once aspired to be an Olympic figure skater, mostly notices vision problems and a loss of sensation on her left side.

Dr. V. Wee Yong, who worked with Weiss on the study, said it seems appropriate that pregnancy and the creation of new life may lead to an eventual treatment that will improve the lives of thousands of others.

"It's remarkable. I mean pregnancy is a stressful state, and what is increasingly appreciated is during pregnancy there is the regeneration of a lot of cells," said Yong.

"If we understood the biological processes that contribute to the improvement of well-being during pregnancy, one could now have a lead to take that into a therapeutic situation."

An official with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada called the announcement significant.

"We're looking at a naturally occurring hormone that has never been looked at on how it can improve MS symptoms," said Stewart Wong. "People who have MS today should be pleased with the research that's taking place."

The research is worth pursuing said Dr. Paul O'Connor, director of MS research at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

"A very interesting study which, however, must be interpreted with caution as mouse MS is by no means the same as human MS," said O'Connor.

"The search for natural agents that can promote remyelination is of key importance for the future welfare of our MS patients."

Rogers is under no delusions about the new research, which essentially is still in its infancy.

"I know it's not a cure, but it's one step closer to finding the reasons why things are happening," she said.

"If this hormone could not only stop or delay the damage but actually alleviate that damage and repair that damage - how fabulous is that?"

NOTE FROM BONNIE:

PROLACTIN IS PRODUCED DURING BREASTFEEDING AS WELL.  PROLACTIN IS PRODUCED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TIME THAT A MOTHER BREASTFEEDS HER BABY.