This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Duration
30/01/2006 to 02/01/2009
Category
cause of MS,
Sub-category
electrophysiology,
Grant number
824
Institution
King’s College London
Researcher
Prof. K.J. Smith
Amount funded
£114,515

MS results in intense inflammation within the brain and spinal cord, and there is increasing evidence that this can directly cause conduction and neurological deficits. This PhD project explores the hypothesis that the deficits arise because the nerve fibres passing through inflammatory lesions are relatively starved of oxygen and glucose. The hypothesis is strongly supported by historical evidence, currently largely forgotten, that drugs that open blood vessels (e.g. amyl nitrite) can restore function in MS within an hour. This study proposes to explore the mechanisms underlying such phenomena using several different experimental inflammatory and/or demyelinating models, focusing on the oxygen concentration within the lesions. First, the distribution of oxygen within the lesion will be mapped using electrophysiological and morphological methods. Second, the oxygen supply to lesions will be modulated while observing the consequences on both the oxygen concentration within the lesion, and on the success of axonal conduction through the lesion. In addition, the oxygen and nutrient demand within the lesion will be increased by repetitive electrical stimulation, and the ability of the lesion and its vascular supply to maintain oxygen homeostasis will be determined. Finally, the functional consequences of manipulating blood flow and/or oxygen concentrations in experimental models will also be determined, to explore the feasibility of using modern drugs to develop a new symptomatic therapy for MS.

Ok Fernando, will contact him tomorrow

L x

Professor Kenneth Smith of Kings College in London has been
researching the consequences of neuroinflammation and NO on the
properties of neural axons. “His groupsʼ research has focused on the
inflammatory mediator nitric oxide, which he believes to play an important
role in causing axonal degeneration in multiple sclerosis. Nitric oxide is
produced in high concentrations in multiple sclerosis lesions and the
group has found that axons become very vulnerable to degeneration if
they are conducting trains of impulses while exposed to nitric oxide.”
“Blood vessels run through our brain and spinal cord and supply oxygen
and other nutrients, and the lining of those blood vessels constitutes a
biochemical barrier to protect the central nervous system from toxins,
inflammatory cells, red blood cells, blood products, and a variety of other
potential toxic insults.

The hypothesis is strongly supported by historical evidence, currently largely forgotten, that drugs that open blood vessels (e.g. amyl nitrite) can restore function in MS within an hour.

Amyl nitrite, in common with other alkyl nitrites,[3] is a potent vasodilator, i.e., it expands blood vessels, resulting in lowering of the blood pressure. Alkyl nitrites function as a source of nitric oxide, which signals for relaxation of the involuntary muscles. Physical effects include decrease in blood pressure, headache, flushing of the face, increased heart rate, dizziness, and relaxation of involuntary muscles, especially the blood vessel walls and the anal sphincter. There are no withdrawal symptoms. Overdose symptoms include nausea, emesis (vomiting), hypotension, hypoventilation, dyspnea (shortness of breath), and syncope (fainting). The effects set in very quickly, typically within a few seconds and disappearing soon after (within a minute).

This CCSVI theory is reaching an important tipping point. I fear that some recipients of this amazing discovery - or their caregivers - are not accurately describing their improvements.