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Myelin is the fatty substance that covers and protects nerves.

FDA approves human embryonic stem cells clinical trial for spinal cord injury treatment

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc.: Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration gave their highly-anticipated approval for the first clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which are the type of cells that can develop into all tissues of the body. Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, received the green light from the US FDA to use cells derived from hESCs to treat people with acute spinal cord injuries. Ten people will receive injections into the injury site of hESC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which stimulate the growth of new and severed nerves and recoat damaged nerves with myelin. The hope is that the injections will help people recover function lost through injury, as seen in rodent studies in 2005.

10 Aug 2010

Opexa Therapeutics aims to complete planned experiments, develop clinical study protocols

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a company developing Tovaxin, a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 and provided an update on its corporate developments.

7 Aug 2010

Research shows no link between CCSVI and development of multiple sclerosis

Two important new studies challenge the controversial hypothesis that venous congestion—chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI)—contributes to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). This theory has resulted in many MS patients receiving experimental endovascular angioplasty, a treatment for MS unproven by clinical trials.

2 Aug 2010

FDA lifts hold, allows Geron to proceed with Phase I clinical trial of GRNOPC1 in spinal cord injury

Geron Corporation announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified the company that the clinical hold placed on Geron's Investigational New Drug (IND) application has been lifted and the company's Phase I clinical trial of GRNOPC1 in patients with acute spinal cord injury may proceed.

30 Jul 2010

Mental exercises may help reverse age-related cognitive decline

Specialized brain training targeted at the regions of a rat's brain that process sound reversed many aspects of normal, age-related cognitive decline and improved the health of the brain cells, according to a new study from researchers at University of California, San Francisco.

21 Jul 2010

MRI study could prove useful in early detection of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists at the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine have identified changes in the brains of normal individuals at high risk for Alzheimer's disease that could prove important for early detection of the disease.

29 Jun 2010

Treatment options for patients with MS

The best one-word description for multiple sclerosis is "unpredictable," according to the June issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. MS interferes with the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Just how that interference plays out in symptoms is different for everyone -- thus, the unpredictable label.

24 Jun 2010

NIH awards Geisinger $1.8M grant for study of nuclear ErbB3 protein

A new five-year, $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to staff scientist Nikolaos Tapinos, M.D., Ph.D., of Geisinger's Sigfried and Janet Weis Center for Research will be used to study the role of nuclear ErbB3 protein during development of the nervous system and in response to nerve injury.

16 Jun 2010

Biogen Idec initiates enrollment in Phase II BG-12 combination trial for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Biogen Idec today announced enrollment of the first patient in a multicenter Phase II clinical trial designed to evaluate its investigational oral therapy BG-12 (dimethyl fumarate) in combination with commonly used first-line treatments in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

15 Jun 2010

MultiCell retains CDSS to manage MCT-125 Phase IIb clinical trial for PMSF in UK

MultiCell Technologies, Inc. has retained Clinical Development & Support Services, Ltd. (CDSS) of Cheshire, England to manage its planned Phase IIb clinical trial in the United Kingdom for MCT-125, the Company's lead drug candidate for treatment of primary multiple sclerosis-related fatigue (PMSF).

14 Jun 2010

White blood cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins may assault nerves after fighting infection

A virus infection can incite the body to attack its own nerve tissue by activating unusual, disease-fighting cells with receptors for both viral and nerve proteins. The dual-receptor observation suggests a way brain and spinal cord nerve damage might be triggered in susceptible young adults afflicted with multiple sclerosis.

11 Jun 2010

Neutralizing inhibitory molecules does not improve regeneration in damaged spinal axons

Neuroscientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that removing three key inhibitory molecules from myelin - the insulating material that surrounds nerve cell fibers - does not significantly boost the ability of injured spinal axons to regenerate and restore themselves to full function.

10 Jun 2010

GE Global Research awarded $4M grant to optimize new nerve labeling agent and imaging system

Researchers from GE Global Research announced today that they have been awarded a four-year, $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, to optimize a new nerve labeling agent and imaging system. In the future, this agent could help surgeons see delicate nerve endings that are prone to damage during certain procedures, such as prostate surgery.

10 Jun 2010

CXCR4 protein restores brain damage in multiple sclerosis patients

A protein that helps build the brain in infants and children may aid efforts to restore damage from multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

9 Jun 2010

Biogen, Elan launch My MS Health, a web-based PRO research program

Biogen Idec and Elan Corporation, plc, in collaboration with EPI-Q, Inc. and Avatar International, LLC, today announced the launch of My MS Health, a first-of-its-kind, web-based, patient-reported outcomes research program. My MS Health is designed to track and provide instant reports on patient function and quality of life using validated measures over time.

9 Jun 2010

CXCR4 protein may aid restore damage from MS and other neurodegenerative diseases: Researchers

A protein that helps build the brain in infants and children may aid efforts to restore damage from multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

8 Jun 2010

Sanofi-aventis reports new 1-year data from teriflunomide Phase II study for relapsing multiple sclerosis

Sanofi-aventis reported today new one-year data from a Phase II study with teriflunomide, a novel oral disease modifier being investigated for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS). Study results demonstrated an improvement in outcomes, with a consistent safety profile with the data from a previous Phase II monotherapy study, in patients treated with interferon beta (IFN-[BETA]) - a standard therapy in RMS - and receiving teriflunomide 7mg or 14mg, compared with patients treated with IFN-[BETA] and receiving oral placebo.

7 Jun 2010

CPAP Therapy increases gray-matter volume in obstructive sleep apnea patients

Obstructive sleep apnea patients had reductions of grey-matter volume at baseline but showed significant grey-matter volume increase after three months of CPAP therapy, according to a research abstract that will be presented Monday, June 7, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

7 Jun 2010

Johns Hopkins professor receives $1M MSCRF grant to study glial cells for treating myelin disorders

Q Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that Piotr Walczak, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University has received notification of a $1,000,000 grant to be awarded by the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) which will enable further study of Q's human neural glial cell product Q-Cells® in preclinical models of demyelinating disease.

2 Jun 2010

UCI study provides blueprint for enhanced treatment of inflammatory diseases

By discovering how adult neural stem cells navigate to injury sites in the central nervous system, UC Irvine researchers have helped solve a puzzle in the creation of stem cell-based treatments: How do these cells know where to go? Tom Lane and Kevin Carbajal of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center found the answer with the body's immune system.