U of Manitoba Researchers Find Potential MS Treatment to Restore Brain Function

A research team at the University of Manitoba has identified a potential treatment for restoring cognitive function in people with chronic multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that causes the immune system to attack the protective covering around nerves in the brain, the optic nerves, and the spinal cord. It can cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes, and other symptoms, and may result in permanent damage of the nerve fibers, according to Mayo Clinic.

Health Canada says genetics combined with lifestyle and environmental factors may play a role in the onset of the disease, which affects 290 out of every 100,000 Canadians aged 20 and older.

The researchers found that restoring levels of the protein neuregulin-1 in the brains of mice with chronic MS improved mobility and cognition issues in the mice. The team discovered that the protein is significantly depleted from the brain in human MS samples and in animal models of the disease.

Restoring the protein improved the integrity of nerves and the protective sheath around nerve fibers, called myelin, according to a report from the university.

“Myelin is essential to effectively relay messages through the brain and spinal cord to the body and vice versa,” head researcher Soheila Karimi said.

Karimi, who is a professor of physiology and pathophysiology at the Max Rady College of Medicine, said the finding could lead to a treatment that would improve the lives of people with chronic MS.

Chronic MS is the stage of the disease when the brain’s natural ability to repair itself begins to fail.

Karimi said the replacement of neuregulin-1 compared favorably against existing treatment methods for MS. Neuregulin-1 therapy also shows promise for the treatment of early-stage MS, she said.

The course of MS is unpredictable, and the disease often occurs in a pattern of relapses and remissions, according to Health Canada.

Previous tests that modeled relapsing-remitting MS with active inflammation show that the new method could potentially serve as an immune-modulatory agent—restoring balance to an overactive immune system—and regenerative therapy, Karimi said.

Karimi added that her team would now work on development of a molecule that could be injected into patients with chronic MS as a treatment, which would then be tested in a clinical trial.

The team would also need to work out an ideal treatment schedule, she said.

“These are the areas that we would like to continue researching. While our findings are very promising, there is still more work ahead of us,” she said.