By Rachel Lutz | December 19, 2014
A specific chemical compound can decrease the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to findings published in the December 1, 2014 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. –
Researchers from the University of California, Riverside conducted a study of multiple sclerosis in mouse models. The researchers aimed to identify a drug to stimulate endogenous remyelination and/or minimized axonal degeneration to reduce the rate and degree of MS progression in patients. They found indazole chloride (Ind-Cl), which is a compound that stimulates estrogen receptor ERβ.
Using electrophysiology tests, they ensured the remyelinated axons were retransmitting impulses in the mice models. The remyelination occurred more efficiently in the mice after they were given Ind-Cl, which was activated 2 ways. First, it flowed through the immune system, which reduced inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. It also worked directly by remyelinating the axons, which the research team believes makes Ind-Cl especially promising.
“This drug, which we administered on transgenic mice, can potentially halt the symptoms and reverse ongoing motor deficit due to MS,” study leader Seema K. Tiwari-Woodruff, MS, PhD, an associate professor in the UC Riverside School of Medicine, said in a press release. “Our study shows that Ind-Cl can re-myelinate axons which have gotten injured not just in MS but also traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury.”
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