Hey, folks!
I know the NMSS isn't on everyone's most favorite list, but aside from that, they did just post a NEW list of the research funded this last time around (Fall, 2004).
Referring to research that might be going on that is NOT completely immune system related, here's an example (I've heard about this hypothesis before, too......glutamate. Wesley! Didn't you just mention something about glutamate, also?!)
"Daniel Pelletier, MD
University of California at San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
NMSS Area: Northern California Chapter
Award: Research Grant
Term/Amount: 10/1/04-9/30/07; $612,478
“In vivo assessment of glutamate in MS
using H-MRS at 3T” Evaluating a molecule
that may over-excite and damage nerve
cells, and correlating findings in different
forms of MS, including primary-progressive
MS.
Although the immune attack in MS is known
to damage the myelin coating that insulates
nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord, the
nerve fibers themselves are also damaged. In
addition to destructive immune factors, a
molecule called glutamate has been identified
in MS brain lesions. Glutamate helps excite
nerve cells, and some research suggests
that too much glutamate may contribute to
tissue damage in MS.
In a novel attempt to track changes in glutamate
levels in MS lesions over time,
Daniel Pelletier, MD, and colleagues are using
an especially powerful imaging device,
magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), to
measure and compare glutamate in MS lesions
in up to 500 individuals with either relapsing-
remitting MS, secondary-progressive
MS, or primary-progressive MS. The team is
also tracking any progress of clinical symptoms
and will attempt to correlate clinical
findings with observed glutamate levels.
This project should help define the role of
glutamate in MS tissue damage, and may
produce a “marker” that can be traced noninvasively
to determine whether potential
therapies impact glutamate activities."
This is just the first non-immune system related research that I came across in the list, so I posted it. The list is about 62 pages long, though, so if anyone hasn't checked it out yet, you might want to! (Well, wait....the page length depends on which program you are looking at it in. Duh, Deb! In PDF, I guess it's only about 36 pages. I copied it over to Word format, so I could copy and paste, and it just ended up to be 62 pages there. Ok.....so it's been a long day.
)
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/pdf/re ... search.pdf
I'm looking through it as we speak. It does appear (so far), that a lot more funding might have gone to trying to discover new diagnostic measures and procedures, etc., also! Now that's another area that I found was missing. I personally am glad to see some additional concentration on that, too! (I think I just a couple of days ago mentioned that I wished better diagnostic procedures and tests would come out soon. hmmmmmmmm.........how uncanny!)
Ok........I'm heading back to read some more!
Deb
EDIT: Ok....I already found a couple more interesting ones!
Ikuo Tsunoda, MD, PhD “Lesion development from inside (axon) to outside (myelin): Inside-
out models” University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, $44,000; 5/1/04-4/30/05
Oh! And this next one should help reassure some folks about non-immune related research, too! This looks interesting, also! Note how they are looking into damage in "myelinated" axons! There's our "ion channels", too!
Shing-yan Chiu, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
NMSS Area: Wisconsin Chapter
Award: Research Grant
Term/Amount: 10/1/04-9/30/07; $558,155
“Physiology and pathophysiology of potassium
and calcium channels in myelinated
axons” Exploring tiny pores along nerve fibers
whose dysfunction may lead to nerve
tissue damage in MS.