IFN-beta Therapy Found to Help Blood Vessels in Brain Dilate in MS

by Vanda Pinto, PhD | September 30, 2022

DMT restores cerebrovascular reactivity that’s reduced in patients: study

Treatment with interferon beta (IFN-beta) — a disease-modifying therapy that lowers inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) — was found to restore the ability of blood vessels in the brain to dilate following a stimulus.

A new study suggests that this ability, called cerebrovascular reactivity or CVR, is reduced in people with MS — and can prevent adequate blood supply to the brain.

When patients were treated with IFN-beta, their CVR levels increased to those matching healthy controls, and the number of inflammatory brain lesions visible on an imaging scan decreased, according to researchers.

“Quantifying alteration of CVR with inflammation and its restoration may inform on novel [disease-associated] mechanisms of MS damage and disability,” the scientists wrote, adding that these findings “may lead to the discovery of novel physiological markers of disease status and treatment response,” the scientists wrote.

The study, “Cerebrovascular reactivity in multiple sclerosis is restored with reduced inflammation during immunomodulation,” was published in the journal Scientific Reports.