An immune system messenger molecule that normally helps quiet inflammation could be an effective tool against multiple sclerosis (MS). Neurology researchers led by Abdolmohamad Rostami, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philadelphia, have found that the protein interkeukin-27 (IL-27) helped block the onset or reverse symptoms in animals with an MS-like disease.

The results suggest that IL-27 may someday be part of a therapy to temper over-active immune responses, which are thought to be at the heart of MS, an autoimmune disease (in which the body attacks its own tissue) affecting the central nervous system. The Jefferson neuroscientists report their findings November 11, 2007 in the journal Nature Immunology. The paper first appears in an advance online publication. continue reading »»»

A diagnosis of MS can feel overwhelming, even terrifying. Though over 400,000 American's have received that diagnosis, succinct answers on the issues surrounding MS can be hard to come by. This guide is the definitive resource for those who need information on this debilitating disease. Organized in an accessible question-and-answer format, it includes information on diagnosis, epidemiology, and the condition's emotional, social, and economic aspects, as well as descriptions of common medications and helpful advice for managing symptoms.

The is a video of an engaging talk given at the 2006 Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders Symposium Multiple Sclerosis (MS) by Peter A. Calabresi MD. He gives a quick summary of what MS is then covers topics such as how it's diagnosed and treated. It really is a state-of-the-disease type address as of July 2006.
Duration: 36:03

A video from YouTube that describes what Multiple Sclerosis is and how it acts on the Central Nervous System (CNS)

Haesun Kim, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University,Newark, N.J.Newark, NJ ? Uncover the neural communication links involved in myelination, the process of protecting a nerve?s axon, and it may become possible to reverse the breakdown of the nervous system?s electrical transmissions in such disorders as multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and cancers of the nervous system.

With $697,065 in grants from the New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Injury and the New Jersey Commission on Brain Injury Research, Haesun Kim of Teaneck, NJ, assistant professor of biological sciences at Rutgers University in Newark, is working on gaining a better understanding of those links.

Specifically, her work focuses on Schwann cells within the peripheral nervous system and their communication links with the axons they myelinate by enwrapping them in myelin. Axons are the long fibrous part of neurons that carry the nerve?s electrical signals. A fatty substance, myelin covers those axons both to protect them and to provide a conduit for the fast conduction of electrical signals within the nervous system. Once that myelin is lost,the electrical signal breaks down and eventually the neuron dies ? like a cell phone that loses its signal.

Determining how Schwann cells and axons communicate with one another could lead to an understanding of how to promote remyelination, the rebuilding of myelin, and restoration of that signal. One unique aspect of the communication link between Schwann cells and axons is that they are mutually dependent upon that connection for their existence.

?When Schwann cells are generated during development, axons send out signals to the Schwann cells and tell them, ?You are going to become myelin cells and you are going to myelinate me,?? explains Kim. ?The Schwann cells in turn guide the axons to where they need to go and direct the axons to grow.? continue reading »»»