Advances in MS Treatments
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. It's the immune cells in the nervous system attacking the tissues around the brain and spinal cord.
MS is an inflammatory nervous disease that has no cure. Patients’ pain can only undergo strict management with new advancements in medical and pharmaceutical technologies.
The disease starts manifesting between the ages of 20 and 40. Though there are early onsets of multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis causes various nervous symptoms like lack of precision in walking and balance, vision impairment, and sensory disorders. The treatment methods available for combating some of the major symptoms aren't quite targeting specific cells. Instead, it causes more risks and harmful side effects.
Currently, researchers at the clinical neuro-science department, Karolinska Institutet, believe that treatment will yield fewer side effects and more potency towards the inflammatory cells. An ongoing study at the institute with professor Tomas Olsson's group is strategizing on a method that makes identifying T cells that react to specific molecules known as autoantigens easy. The study involves 63 protein analyses from patients with multiple sclerosis. They were compared to controls who were free from any predisposition to the autoimmune disease.
Four of these proteins presented autoimmune reactivity. The proteins were drawn in collusion with the Human Protein Atlas and Professor Torbjörn Gräslund at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. In other regions, research is ongoing to develop new and better disease-modifying therapies (DMT) to target the central nervous system. DMTs help reduces the severity and frequency of the disease manifestation. Some of the DMTs include ocrelizumab, fingolimod (Gilenya), cladribine (mavenclad), siponimod, ozanimod, ponesimod, and diroximel fumarate.
In 2018, daclizumab was withdrawn as an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis. Ponesimod has shown great dexterity and efficiency in 30.5% of patients. It also helps to reduce cases of relapse. Since research began in the early 90s, the majority of such treatments were under approval from the FDA. They helped manage the recurrence of symptoms prevalent among 85% and 90%.
After several years, some patients relapse and may progress into secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis. 10% of people are susceptible to progressive multiple sclerosis at the onset of diagnosis. The DMTs available have little to no impact on this phase of the disease.
Recent drugs have shown little efficacy in younger patients with new inflammation. The case is different for older patients suffering from progressive multiple sclerosis.
Database Strategies
Due to the advancement in research, scientists are using databases and statistical analyses to target treatment methods for each patient. This form of treatment will help doctors and patients know which treatment works best for them. Recent findings have shown that a gut microbe can initiate and progress the disease. Not all bacteria destroy the body system, but they tend to aid the development of multiple sclerosis.
Though it's still under review, major evidence hasn't been successful to ascertain. Scientists are hopeful that further research into the gut microbe will pave the way to understanding the disease better. It could also develop new dietary treatment methods.
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