Research Programs
Background - Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
MS was first described in 1838, but was not recognized as a specific disease until 30 years later. An immunologic cause of MS was not seriously investigated until after World War II; and disease-modifying drugs that directly fight MS only began to appear in the early 1990s. Approximately 400,000 Americans acknowledge having MS, and every week about 200 individuals are diagnosed with MS. Worldwide, MS may affect more than 2.5 Million individuals. The vast majority of the individuals inflicted with MS live a normal lifespan but MS patients may struggle to live productive lives, often with increasing limitations.
MS is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system (the brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord) characterized by the destruction of the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells, and often leading to the irreversible degeneration of the nerve cells themselves. This destructive process causes a variety of disabling and sometimes painful symptoms including blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, paralysis and blindness.
MS is an autoimmune disorder, meaning that the patient's own immune system attacks the nerve tissue. There is no full understanding of the cause and mechanism of the disease; and, while a variety of effective treatments have been shown to reduce some symptoms and, in some cases, arrest the progress of the disease, there is no cure for MS.
Current Research Programs
The MS Center's laboratories are equipped with the advanced instrumentation and research technologies necessary to unravel the complexities of how and why MS occurs and progresses. This research is leading to the development of new and more effective ways to treat the disease. We also expect that our research will soon uncover the basic cause of the disease and help predict the course of the disease in individual patients.
Our key current research programs include:
- Identifying the cause of MS
We are working to understand the mechanism that triggers the inflammatory autoimmune response in MS patients. One study is examining the possible role of the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) and how it may interact with genetic susceptibility genes leading to immune abnormalities. We are also investigating the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) to find unique determinants that may explain why this form of the disease primarily affects the spinal cord.
- Understanding the mechanisms of the disease and its progression
MSRCNY researchers are studying a variety of factors possibly related to the progression of MS including:
- A study of three proteins found in CSF and their possible role as bio markers of disease activity and / or progression.
- Comparing CSF from patients with the most benign form of MS with CSF of patients with severe treatment-unresponsive disease. This study seeks to find biochemical differences that may help explain disease worsening.
- Examining mitochondria - the energy producing structures in human cells - and their function in patients suffering with MS-related fatigue.
- Studying environmental factors related to MS and examining the disease related effects of Curcumin, Vitamin D, Estriol and Testoterone.
- Conducting CSF and serum studies designed to establish a series of biochemical criteria to accurately reflect inflammatory disease activity (Activation Panel) as well as criteria that will be markers of the pace of degenerative disease (Degeneration Panel).
- Examining New Treatment Strategies
- Utilizing the research center's unique CSF data base, our clinical researchers are examining, at the molecular level, the effects of a variety of drug therapies on disease activity and progression. The study seeks to develop specific understanding of how these drugs alter the course of the disease for patients manifesting different symptoms.
- In a manner similar to allergy tolerance therapy, our new Tolerance Study uses individual patients' immunological make-up to induce tolerance to disease triggering antigens, thus reducing autoimmunity.
- Neural cell repair and regeneration studies
- This project is perfecting a treatment using the patient's own adult stem cells to regenerate nerve cells, enabling normal myelin repair that will help patients recover lost functions. This research is awaiting approval by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for a Phase I Human Study.
- We are also studying the use of embryonic stem cells and umbilical cord blood stem cells which are more flexible and adaptable than adult bone marrow stem cells as agents of neural regeneration.
Adult Stem Cell Neural Repair and Regeneration
Under the supervision of Saud A. Sadiq, MD, Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Center of New York and Senior Research Scientist, the Adult Stem Cells Neural Regeneration Project is perfecting a process for replacing damaged nerve tissue. We have shown that adult stem cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow can develop into brain cells such as neurons, glial cells that support brain architecture or myelin producing cells. We also have preliminary evidence that neural stem cells can be transferred back into patients' spinal fluid, where they initiate repair of damaged tissue. In short, by providing new tissue to replace tissue damaged by the disease, this process has the potential to serve as a remedy for Multiple Sclerosis.
This process has the potential to alter the course of MS treatment and may also be applicable to a range of other neurological diseases, in addition to MS, such as cerebral palsy, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) and traumatic brain and spinal cord disease.
We have presented this research to more than one hundred stem cell biologists at the annual meetings of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in June 2007 and again in June 2008.
MSRCNY has received institutional review board approval from the Biomedical Research Alliance of New York for an initial study protocol, pending FDA approval for a human clinical study of this treatment, in 20 multiple sclerosis patients. When approved, this study will be the first study of its kind in the world. The cost of this stem cell based regeneration research is anticipated to be $5 Million.
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