Study offers hope of 'repairing' MS damage

Scientists have identified a way of prompting nerve system repair in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Studies on rats by Cambridge and Edinburgh University researchers identified how to help stem cells in the brain regenerate myelin sheath, needed to protect nerve fibres.

MS charities said the "exciting" Nature Neuroscience work offered hope of restoring physical functions.
But they cautioned it would be some years before treatments were developed.

MS is caused by a defect in the body's immune system, which turns in on itself, and attacks the fatty myelin sheath. It is thought to affect around 100,000 people in the UK.

Around 85% have the relapsing/remitting form of the condition, in which "flare-ups" which cause disability, are followed by a recovery of a level of the lost physical function. In this form of MS, there does appear to be some natural myelin repair.

However, around 10% of people are diagnosed with a progressive form of MS, where the decline continues without any periods of remission.

In addition, people with the relapsing/remitting form do often go on to develop what is called secondary progressive MS, which affects them in the same way.

Early days yet
However, much more work is needed - both to test if the mechanism works in people with MS and to see what drugs might be needed to promote the effect.

Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, of the University of Edinburgh's MS Society Centre for MS Research, said: "The aim of our research is to slow the progression of MS with the eventual aim of stopping and reversing it.

"This discovery is very exciting as it could potentially pave the way to find drugs that could help repair damage caused to the important layers that protect nerve cells in the brain."

More information at BBC News - Study offers hope of 'repairing' MS damage