AAN

[bromley]

The American Academy of Neurology holds its annual conference next month. A number of MS trials will be reporting results etc. One of the key lectures is by Moses Rodriguez and looks very interesting:

Moses Rodriguez, MD, FAAN,Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Moses Rodriguez is a nationally recognized multiple sclerosis expert. He is Professor of Neurology and Immunology and holds the Mildred A. and Henry Uihlein II Professorship in Medical Research at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

Rodriguez earned his bachelor's and medical degrees at Northwestern University. He completed a residency in neurology at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. In addition, he served as a trainee at the National Institutes of Health and completed fellowships in neuropathology at the University of California, San Diego, and at Scripps Research Institute.

His research has focused on developing methods to reverse the deterioration of the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis, a debilitation by the destruction of the multi-layered sheath that surrounds nerve fibers called myelin. Remyelination, in essence, is the restoration of this protective tissue. Rodriguez and his colleagues have identified human antibodies that stimulate remyelination in laboratory mice. Their findings will soon form the basis of the first remyelination clinical trials in humans. He is also a member of a Mayo Clinic research team that identified Interleukin-6 as a human-produced hormone which may prolong neuron (brain cell) life. Rodriguez holds five US patents related to his fundamental medical discoveries.

"Natural Autoantibodies in the Treatment of Neurological Disease"
It has generally been thought that autoimmunity is harmful from the standpoint of neurological disease. However, there are a group of natural autoantibodies that are present in the germ line of all individuals that appear to be important in the control of infectious diseases and most recently have been shown to be important in the protection from neurological disease. This lecture will discuss the discovery of a new set of compounds, natural IgMs which are directed to surface antigens on oligodendrocytes. These antibodies cross-link molecules on lipid rafts on the surface of oligodendrocytes to induce down-stream signals to begin the myelination program. These natural autoantibodies have been shown to cross the blood-brain-barrier using MRI. These natural antibodies when injected into mice with an MS-like disease induced by Theiler's virus show extensive remyelination and CNS repair with functional improvement. These antibodies have now been cloned and sequenced and have been expressed to large quantity in a GMP by a facility at the University of Minnesota. The goal is to begin phase I clinical trials with these antibodies in the near future to test for the first time the potential to repair the central nervous system using natural autoantibodies. These findings provide great hope for patients with multiple sclerosis and other diseases that affect myelin (spinal cord injury, transverse myelitis, stroke, etc.) in that these natural compounds will likely be very safe and likely may be efficacious in reversing permanent neurological disability.

[Loobie]

Woah. That's a pretty amazing thing indeed if he can figure out a way to do it and market it. Good info.

[Lyon]

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[Loobie]

Now Bob,

Can't you see the quotes? You know I'm not capable of an original thought that clever!

BTW, I went to my neuro. yesterday and I now have to get a 'non-trial' MRI (read I pay) of my spine. All of my progression has been basically below mid thigh and also bi-lateral. He explained to me that those two things right there make him believe it's not only spinal disease activity, but also that it in the thoracic spine. I asked him how he knew and then he started going through all of these functional tests with me with the reflex hammer, and with safety pins and also just manipulating my feet and legs. It was amazing to see him rule out things and rule other things in. As he was jabbing me with a safety pin, a very interesting thing happened. He started out around my waist line and went up in about 1" increments. It was real sharp down low, but then as he started to go up, it was dulling out. Then it picked back up again when he got up higher. He said that also supports that it is thoracic. That's about all specifically I can remember, but it was fascinating to watch him do. I had no idea they could tell so much from those little tests. I always thought it was a yes or no type of thing with those tests. But after talking with him, there are all kinds of nuances and things that happen when you see which way the muscle jerks and things like that. Very interesting.

Long story short, I got blood done to make sure I can go on the 'roids. That usually would have made me cringe, but the way I've been feeling, any relief is going to be welcome, even with 'roid side fx.

Have you ever read anything before like what Bromley posted? That sounds absolutely amazing if it is anything more than just another instance of where EAE is clearly not MS. I sure and the hell hope it bears fruit. We could all go to Baltimore with Chris and get 'cleaned out', and then go see this guy for repair. That would indeed be something!

[gwa]

We need to watch this research and find out where the clinical trials will be held. Looks like it would be a good one to try out for if a person meets their criteria.

I like anything that is trying to repair myelin.

gwa

[Lyon]

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[robbie]

now that the disease process is showing to be able to be stopped with regularity,

The people you are talking about here are the people in the Campath and other chemo trials. do we know how many people total there are in these trials and how many years it has been since their ms has stopped as you put it in many of your posts and is it working for 100 % of these people.