Study finds improvement with a new treatment option for MS

[MSUK]

Study finds improvement with a new treatment option for disability in MS

Neurodegeneration is the main cause of permanent disability in MS and there are few treatment options. A new study from the University of Oxford has investigated whether amiloride, a drug that is already available for other conditions, might be able to limit neurodegeneration in people with primary progressive MS.

Amiloride works by blocking a potassium channel known as ASIC1, and is currently licenced for hypertension and congestive heart failure. The first stage of the study used post-mortem brain tissue taken from six people with primary progressive MS and compared this with brain tissue taken from people without the disease.

The researchers wanted to determine the level of activity of the potassium channel in the brain and specifically within chronic inactive MS lesions. They found that the potassium channel was more active in nerve fibres and myelin producing cells from people with MS. This meant that blocking the channels with amiloride might prevent damage in the brain..... Read More - http://www.ms-uk.org/index.cfm/amiloride

[andreagwolford]

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