Stem Cell Transplant Doesn't Stop Atrophy in MS

Submitted by art on Thu, 2007-03-15 06:03.

Looking at autopsy material from 5 people who had previously undergone autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (immune system reboot using your own stem cells), the researchers found that ongoing demyelination and axonal degeneration exist despite pronounced immunosuppression.

What this seems to indicate is that the immune response in MS is not the only thing going on (as you would expect in an "autoimmune disease"), and that even when the immune system is shutdown and rebooted, something is killing off neurons.

This (unrelated) paper gives a good overview of how gray matter involvement is starting to get attention.

http://www.acceleratedcure.org:8080/node/2559