Source Mutiple Sclerosis News Today:

In the future, a blood test may make diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) much easier, thanks to newly identified biomarker patterns that distinguish between MS patients and healthy people.

The test could also correctly detect primary progressive MS (PPMS) in patients who also had relapsing-remitting disease (RRMS).

Australian researchers suggest that their test — if validated in future prospective studies — could also be used to predict the disease subtype from the outset, or potentially spot the transformation from relapsing to progressive disease earlier than current clinical tests.

This could be particularly important since the emergence of newer-generation treatments — which address axon and brain volume loss — may allow treatment choices that potentially slow disease progression, the research team said.  Read on. 

Source MS Society:

A new oral treatment for relapsing MS, called cladribine, will be made available on the NHS in England and Wales within the next three months.

Decision makers in Scotland and Northern Ireland are still considering whether to make cladribine available on the NHS.

Cladribine (also known as Mavenclad) is the thirteenth treatment to be approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for relapsing MS. Unlike other oral treatments, which need to be taken every day, cladribine is taken as two courses of tablets, one year apart.  Read on.

Source Multiple Sclerosis News Today:

A blood-clotting protein called fibrinogen prevents myelin production and blocks the neuron remyelination repair process in mice, a study finds.

The study, “Fibrinogen Activates BMP Signaling in Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells and Inhibits Remyelination after Vascular Damage,” appeared in the journal Neuron. Its conclusions offer new insights and open new therapeutic avenues for multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s disease, among other illnesses.

One common feature of several neurological disorders is the loss of the myelin layer that normally surrounds neurons. Myelin is essential not only to protect the neurons but also to let them process and transmit the electric pulses they use to communicate with each other. When myelin is degraded, neurons can not work properly and they eventually die.  Read on. 

Source MS Society:

Researchers in the US have proclaimed their initial test of ibudilast for MS a success.

This drug is already used as a medicine for stroke and asthma. It’s now being investigated for its potential to protect nerves in MS and other neurological conditions.

As part of the phase 2 clinical trial, 255 people with primary and secondary progressive MS were given a pill with ibudilast or a placebo. This included some people already on the Disease Modifying Therapies (DMTs) glatiramer acetate and interferon beta.

The study, called SPRINT-MS, found that people taking the drug had a significant reduction in their rate of brain atrophy (shrinkage) compared to those on placebo. This was measured using MRI results.

They also found that the drug was safe and well tolerated by people.  Read on.