Vaccine helps MS patients

[Posted: Mon 20/08/2007 by Angela Long]

New hope for people with multiple sclerosis comes with news of a vaccine which improves their conditions.

A Canadian neurologist and his colleagues tested the vaccine, coded BHT-3009, on 30 MS patients over two years.

The patients were in two groups, those with relapsing-remitting MS, in which periods of difficulty are followed by a phase with no symptoms, or secondary progressive MS.

In both groups the vaccine had a good effect.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease of the nervous system. It usually strikes young adults, when damage occurs to myelin sheaths around nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

The vaccine incorporates the sequence of myelin basic protein (MBP), which is thought to be one of the targets of MS. DNA is incorporated into the cells in the body, which then starts to make the protein. MBP is a specific substance in myelin, which is responsible for protecting nerve cells in the brain and body.

Researchers found that the vaccine was safe and boosted the immune system.

The study will be published later this year in the journal Archives of Neurology. It is believed to be the first human trial of a DNA vaccine for an autoimmune disease.

Ireland has an estimated 10,000 people with MS.

http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=12029