The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Research

Can this CAR-T therapy help people with MS?

Woman with fingers crossed hoping for CART-T MS therapy success.

My fingers are crossed. Again. IMPT-514, an experimental cell therapy produced by ImmPACT Bio, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for phase 1 multiple sclerosis (MS) trials. I hope this treatment might be the next big thing for people with MS, but I know from experience that’s far from certain. IMPT-514 is a bispecific chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, designed to ease MS symptoms…Continue Reading

Age caps for clinical trials should be removed

Closed road barrier symbolizes trial limits

I recently saw a request for clinical trial volunteers for a medication that might reduce my multiple sclerosis fatigue. “That’s great,” I thought. Fatigue is one of my worst MS symptoms. I’ve lived with it for decades and the Provigil (modafinil) that I’ve been using doesn’t help much anymore. This trial seemed like a natural for me. But I didn’t have to read the participant requirements very far to reach…Continue Reading

Do animal studies raise our MS treatment hopes too high?

Man with fingers crossed

Mice exaggerate and monkeys lie, some researchers jokingly say. (Or is it the other way around?) Testing on rodents and animals is a typical early step in creating medications, and several multiple sclerosis news sites publish articles about these studies. It’s interesting to read what researchers are studying and the experimental MS treatments they hope will work, especially when it comes to the holy grail of MS treatments which, in…Continue Reading

Some MS Research is Out of this World

MS research on the ISS

As you read this, a group of scientists is doing MS research high above the earth. Their laboratory is in orbit about 250 miles up, aboard the International Space Station. Working with researchers at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), astronauts have been helping with a study about how astrocytes — cells that hold other cells together in the central nervous system — can be manipulated to halt or…Continue Reading

A Little Stumble for BTKi’s

BTK's are molecules

A little over a year ago, I wrote about whether Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi’s) might be the next big thing in multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments. BTKi’s are small molecules that selectively block an enzyme that’s important for the activation of B-cells in the immune system and microglia, cells whose job is to protect neurons. Some of both types of cells are thought to be responsible for the abnormal immune…Continue Reading

Can We Attack EBV to Fight MS?

Epstein-Barr EBV

There are continuing signals that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a fuel that can spark a multiple sclerosis fire. EBV is a herpes virus that causes infectious mononucleosis, more commonly known as mono. Sometimes called the “kissing disease” because the virus that causes it is easily spread through saliva, mono causes extreme fatigue and body aches. It’s estimated that 90% of Americans are infected by EBV by the time they’re…Continue Reading

Cold, Demyelination and MS

cold

I hate the cold. It triggers my bladder and stiffens my legs. When the leaves start to turn in Maryland, I start thinking about the palm trees in Florida. So, I was interested to read research from the University of Geneva that indicates that exposure to cold may stop, and even reverse, nerve demyelination that occurs in multiple sclerosis (MS). These scientists applied the concept of life history theory to…Continue Reading

MS Exercise Study Looking for Volunteers

Here’s an opportunity to participate in a study that compares an in-person MS exercise program with one that’s done on-line. In the STEP for MS program, participants will exercise about one hour, twice a week, for 16 weeks. Some will do this in a clinic and some at home. A trained “coach” will help participants learn how to exercise and will provide encouragement as they do. There will be clinic…Continue Reading

BTK Inhibitors – The Next Big MS Therapy?

btk inhibitor research

Is orelabrutinib one of the next big MS therapies? Biogen is betting at least $125 million that it is. Orelabrutinib is an experimental oral BTK inhibitor (BTKi). BTKi’s are designed to selectively block an enzyme that’s important for the activation of B-cells and microglia. Some of those immune cells drive the abnormal immune responses that characterize MS. Researchers hope the medication will lower inflammation and slow progression of all forms…Continue Reading

Looking at an MS Cure a Different Way

ms cure

“Why aren’t researchers doing more to find an MS cure?” “Why isn’t more effort and money devoted to this?” I regularly read comments like these after I write a column about a new disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that’s either being tested or has just been approved. Some, like Multiple Sclerosis News Today columnist Jennifer Powell, have faith that a cure will come, but many others feel a cure is far, far…Continue Reading