Myelin News and Research

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Myelin is the fatty substance that covers and protects nerves.

Chronic stress generates long-term changes in brain that lead to mental problems

University of California, Berkeley, researchers have shown that chronic stress generates long-term changes in the brain that may explain why people suffering chronic stress are prone to mental problems such as anxiety and mood disorders later in life.

12 Feb 2014

Researchers identify protein that promotes growth of brain cells damaged by MS

Vittorio Gallo, PhD, Director of the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children's National Health System, and other researchers have found a "potentially novel therapeutic target" to reduce the rate of deterioration and to promote growth of brain cells damaged by multiple sclerosis (MS). Current therapies can be effective in patients with relapsing MS, but have little impact in promoting tissue growth.

9 Feb 2014

Positive correlation between white matter quality and addition and multiplication proficiency

A new study led by Professor Bert De Smedt (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven) has found that healthy 12-year-olds who score well in addition and multiplication have higher-quality white matter tracts.

28 Jan 2014

Myelin Repair Foundation enters into agreement with NIH to assess MRF-008 for multiple sclerosis

The Myelin Repair Foundation today announced it has entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Institutes of Health to assess MRF-008, as a potential therapeutic for multiple sclerosis. This CRADA will facilitate collaboration between the MRF and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH Clinical Center to study MRF-008, a drug identified by the MRF as a potential neuroprotective therapeutic to enhance repair in multiple sclerosis patients.

27 Jan 2014

FAMPYRA now available in Ireland for symptomatic treatment of walking impairment in MS patients

Biogen Idec today announced that FAMPYRA (prolonged-release fampridine tablets) has been made available in Ireland for the symptomatic treatment of walking impairment in adults with Multiple Sclerosis. FAMPYRA is a prescription drug and is licensed for use in all types of the disease, including the progressive forms. FAMPYRA is available by way of retail pharmacy on a private payment basis.

15 Jan 2014

LA BioMed receives grant to study role of serum Vitamin A in people with multiple sclerosis

Some 2.5 million people around the world have multiple sclerosis (MS), a potentially debilitating disease in which the body's immune system destroys the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerves.

6 Jan 2014

Combination of NGF microspheres and chitosan conduits exhibit better effects in repairing facial nerve injury

The chitosan molecule can promote nerve cell adherence and growth along the surface of the material. It can enhance the adherence and influx of Schwann cells, thus encouraging the growth of axons.

28 Dec 2013

MitoQ antioxidant reverses MS-like disease in animal

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that an antioxidant designed more than a dozen years ago to fight damage within human cells significantly helps symptoms in mice that have a multiple sclerosis-like disease.

27 Dec 2013

New MRI approach can be important tool for diagnosing, tracking MS progression

New imaging research from Western University (London, Canada) has demonstrated that a magnetic resonance imaging approach called quantitative susceptibility mapping can be an important tool for diagnosing and tracking the progression of Multiple Sclerosis and other neurological diseases.

20 Dec 2013

MSCs isolated from MS patients have decreased suppressive function

Multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory autoimmune disease affecting more than one million people worldwide, is caused by an immune reaction to myelin proteins, the proteins that help form the myelin insulating substance around nerves. Demyelination and MS are a consequence of this immune reaction. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells have been considered as an important source for cell therapy for autoimmune diseases such as MS because of their immunosuppressive properties.

18 Dec 2013

Study offers new insight into benefits of vitamin D in people with multiple sclerosis

In mice with a rodent form of multiple sclerosis (MS), vitamin D appears to block damage-causing immune cells from migrating to the central nervous system, offering a potential explanation for why the so-called "sunshine vitamin" may prevent or ease symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease, according to results of a study at Johns Hopkins.

9 Dec 2013

Penn researchers identify protein that could clear Alzheimer's plaques

The body is structured to ensure that any invading organisms have a tough time reaching the brain, an organ obviously critical to survival. Known as the blood-brain barrier, cells that line the brain and spinal cord are tightly packed, making it difficult for anything besides very small molecules to cross from the bloodstream into the central nervous system. While beneficial, this blockade also stands in the way of delivering drugs intended to treat neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's.

9 Dec 2013

Gladstone scientist devise new molecular sensor that can detect MS at earliest stages

For some, the disease multiple sclerosis attacks its victims slowly and progressively over a period of many years. For others, it strikes without warning in fits and starts. But all patients share one thing in common: the disease had long been present in their nervous systems, hiding under the radar from even the most sophisticated detection methods. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have devised a new molecular sensor that can detect MS at its earliest stages-even before the onset of physical signs.

3 Dec 2013

International researchers report significant findings on vascular abnormality outside the brain

Studies on Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia have long focused on what's happening inside the brain. Now an international research team studying Alzheimer's and mild cognitive impairment is reporting potentially significant findings on a vascular abnormality outside the brain.

27 Nov 2013

Study: Connections in the brain become stronger during sleep as children age

While young children sleep, connections between the left and the right hemispheres of their brain strengthen, which may help brain functions mature, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder.

21 Nov 2013

Multiple sclerosis researchers receive NMSS drug development grant

A $500,000 drug development grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society was awarded to a partnership between a multiple sclerosis research team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company. Dr. Patrizia Casaccia, MD, PhD, Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Genetics and Genomics, at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will be the academic lead.

21 Nov 2013

Study finds patients with focal epilepsy have widespread, abnormal connections in their brains

Patients with the most common form of focal epilepsy have widespread, abnormal connections in their brains that could provide clues toward diagnosis and treatment, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

20 Nov 2013

Revalesio to conduct RNS60 Phase IIa clinical trial in RRMS patients

Revalesio Corporation is pleased to announce a new collaboration with noted neurologist Dr. Roland Martin, Head of Neuroimmunology and MS Research at the Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich. Dr. Martin will be conducting a Phase IIa clinical trial of RNS60 in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

12 Nov 2013

Research findings may lead to new treatments, approaches for controlling multiple sclerosis

Scientists are gaining a new level of understanding of multiple sclerosis that may lead to new treatments and approaches to controlling the chronic disease, according to new research released today at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

10 Nov 2013

ImmunGene secures $9 million in Series A financing from Ally Bridge Group

ImmunGene, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing antibody-cytokine fusion technology therapies to treat cancer, today announced it has secured $9 million in a milestone-based Series A financing from Ally Bridge Group. Previous investments in the Company were converted into Series A preferred stock. ImmunGene will use the capital to advance its early-stage development products to IND-enabling studies.

7 Nov 2013