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Videos of speakers from the Madrid06 conference now available

If you missed the Madrid06 conference in September, you can now see video recordings of the speakers. The conference, which attracted more than 600 people from 21 countries, was titled "Research in MS: from basic science to quality of life".

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Profile of the Month : January 2008

Meg Kingston

Country: Wales
Age: 40-something
Year of diagnosis: late 1990s
Occupation: writer and former IT consultant

English Italiano Deutsh Espanol Francais Russian

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Asthma onset prior to multiple sclerosis and the contribution of sibling exposure in early life

This study explores the relationship between childhood asthma and MS, in particular the role of early exposure to infections in childhood. Exposure to infections may alter the general immune response and protect against specific diseases.

authors: Ponsonby AL, Dwyer T, van der Mei I, Kemp A, Blizzard L, Taylor B, Kilpatrick T, Simmons R.

source: Clin Exp Immunol. 2006 Dec;146(3):463-70

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Pattern of hemodynamic impairment in multiple sclerosis: Dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion MR imaging at 3.0 T

This perfusion study in patients with primary progressive and relapsing-remitting MS compares cerebral blood flow and volume in different parts of the normal appearing white matter (parts of the white matter tracts of the brain where there are no visible lesions). There were changes in blood flow in MS patients which seemed to relate to their clinical status, so this type of brain scan may be a useful tool to monitor disease activity and treatment effect.

authors: Adhya S, Johnson G, Herbert J, Jaggi H, Babb JS, Grossman RI, Inglese M.

source: Neuroimage. 2006 Dec;33(4):1029-35. Epub 2006 Sep 22.

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Inhibition by mitoxantrone of in vitro migration of immunocompetent cells: a possible mechanism for therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of multiple sclerosis

This study investigating the behaviour of blood cells from MS patients in an artificial environment found that mitoxantrone, a treatment for severe relapsing MS, may prevent certain inflammatory cells from crossing the blood brain barrier into the central nervous system.

authors: Kopadze T, Dehmel T, Hartung HP, Stuve O, Kieseier BC.

source: Arch Neurol. 2006 Nov;63(11):1572-8.

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Interferon inhibitory activity in patients with multiple sclerosis

This study evaluates the effect of interferon inhibitory activity (IIA) in patients who respond only partially to the drug. Levels of IIA were found to be higher in patients with active disease who responded only partly to interferon treatment. All patients studied were neutralising antibody-negative.

authors: Chadha K, Weinstock-Guttman B, Zivadinov R, Bhasi K, Muhitch J, Feichter J, Tamano-Blanco M, Abdelrahman N, Ambrus J Sr, Munschauer F, Ramanathan M.

source: Arch Neurol. 2006 Nov;63(11):1579-84.

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fMRI study of episodic memory in relapsing-remitting MS: correlation with T2 lesion volume

This functional MRI study finds increased brain activation in patients with higher numbers of brain lesions when a memory task is performed. This indicates increased numbers of brain cells are being used for the task in these subjects. It is suggested that the problem lies in retrieving the memories rather than storing them.

authors: Bobholz JA, Rao SM, Lobeck L, Elsinger C, Gleason A, Kanz J, Durgerian S, Maas E.

source: Neurology. 2006 Nov 14;67(9):1640-5.

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European collaborators identify two genes that may help confer susceptibility to MS

source: US National MS Society

Two genes that may contribute to making a person susceptible to developing multiple sclerosis have been identified by a large collaborating group of European researchers known as the “GAMES” Collaborative Group.

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Summary of MS Society of Canada research funding 2006

source: MS Society of Canada

Find out about the MS research funded by the MS Society of Canada in their recently released summary for 2006.

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New UK MS Society discussion board for Asian MS support group

source: UK MS Society

UK MS Society chief executive Simon Gillespie said: “I am delighted to announce the launch of the Asian MS discussion board on the MS Society’s website, which we are setting up in direct response to a survey of our members."

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