Treosulfan Effective and Safe for Active Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: Presented at ECTRIMS

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Transformation Of Treatment Paradigm To Improve Patient Compliance With Multiple Sclerosis Therapy
The multiple sclerosis (MS) market is undergoing a revolution with the imminent introduction of innovative therapies that will change the approach toward the treatment of the disease. This market evolution has not escaped the notice of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across various tiers, as they engage in a race to develop inventive and effective treatment options for MS.
18 Oct 2007

Scientists Show Monoclonal Antibody Leads To Repair Of Myelin Sheath In Laboratory Study Of Multiple Sclerosis
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have presented details from a preclinical study showing that a recombinant human monoclonal antibody, administered in a single low dose in a laboratory mouse model of multiple sclerosis, can repair myelin, the insulating covering over nerve fibers in the central nervous system.
18 Oct 2007

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AUB tests stem-cell therapy on patients

By The Daily Star - Lebanon News - AUB tests stem-cell therapy on patients
Friday, October 19, 2007
AUB tests stem-cell therapy on patients
BEIRUT: Scientists at the American University of Beirut (AUB) began a pioneering clinical trial earlier this month to test bone-marrow stem-cell therapy on up to six individuals suffering from advanced Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a neurological disease with potentially debilitating effects.

The trial is among the first being carried out in the world, as part of an international task force created about a year ago, following successful animal trials. AUB professor and neuroscientist Bassem Yamout, who is also a member of the European Charcot Foundation Expert Group on the use of human stem cells for treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, is leading the AUB trial which was launched on October 3. AUB assistant dean for research Ali Bazarbachi and his team will be collaborating with Yamout on this experiment.
"We think this is the future of treatment in neurology," said Yamout. "For the past 100 years, we have been trying to prevent or improve neurological diseases, but for the first time, we hope to repair the damage already done."
Through their animal trials, scientists have discovered that stem cells could potentially reverse the damage caused by neurological diseases. With the new clinical trials, researchers are now hoping to recreate the same results in human beings. Basically, each adult human body retains, in certain organs, original embryonic cells, known as stem cells, which have the potential to differentiate into any adult cell type.
In the multiple-sclerosis clinical trial, scientists at AUB extracted stem cells from an MS patient's bone marrow, grew them in the lab for four weeks, then re-injected 100 million of these stem cells in the patient's cerebrospinal fluid at two points: the lower back and neck. Since the cerebrospinal fluid bathes the spinal cord and brain (which constitute the central nervous system), the injected stem cells can reach areas damaged by the disease.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb
It is hoped that once those stem cells settle in the damaged parts of the central nervous system, they will differentiate into new neural cells, replacing dysfunctional ones, thus reversing any disability caused by the disease. Moreover, scientists also expect that these new neural cells will also secrete substances that will aid in repair.
"We are very hopeful about the results and I personally think that this experiment which is among the first in the world in MS patients will open up a whole new avenue of research in the field of MS therapeutics," said Yamout, following the one-hour operation in which the AUB human trial was initiated in a 36-year-old male who has been suffering from multiple sclerosis since 1996 and has been wheelchair-bound since early 2006. "The patient did very well with no complications and was discharged the following day," Yamout added.
Patients participating in the trial will be monitored over a 12-month period, allowing scientists to detect any improvement.
If successful, this trial would have tremendous applications in other neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's, stroke, Parkinson's and physical trauma to the spinal cord. In other words, people like Christopher Reeves, known to many as Superman, would have had the chance to be cured of his complete paralysis following his equestrian accident.
Up until now, very few MS patients around the world have been injected with stem cells. The AUB team, which helped set up the protocol needed for the human trials, is initiating one of the first scientifically based stem-cell therapeutic trials involving MS patients in the world. - The Daily Star
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=86081

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