Interferon, an immune-system protein already used for treating health complications like hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, and a variety of cancers, could be used for granting relief to patients afflicted with asthma.
This finding was disclosed by researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center. It was also suggested that interferon can prove out to be a readily available and valuable therapy for treating asthmatic patients.
The study was funded by Exxon Mobil Corp and the National Institutes of Health and the findings appeared in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology.
A gene has been designed by neuroscientists at the Stanford University that can enhance learning and memory abilities in animals under stress. The Stanford team remarked that experimental technique could one day lead to new forms of gene therapy possible of reducing the severe neurological side effects of steroidsthat are prescribed to millions of patients with arthritis, asthmaand other illnesses.
Robert Sapolsky, co-author of the study and neuroendocrinologist, said steroids can mess up the brain part involved in cognition and judgment.
Sapolsky, the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biological Sciences and a professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford, has conducted numerous experiments on the damaging physiological effects of stress and has written extensively on the subject.
A factor (protein) in the human eye may prove effective to prevent and halt autoimmune eye disease in animal models besides useful for preventing and treating other autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis and diabetes, as per scientists at the Schepens Eye Research Institute.
The factor alpha-MSH, when harnessed and used as a therapeutic drug, was demonstrated by the authors in a study in the November issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology to be useful in successfully preventing the onset of and stop progression of uveitis.
The Schepens Eye Research Institute team was awarded a $330, 000 grant by the Wadsworth Foundation to explore new therapies for multiple sclerosis on the virtue of this study and the basic research leading up to it.
Disease activity related with multiple sclerosis (MS) is reduced to a considerable extent when a combination of steroid drugs and MS drug is administered to patients, as per a study presented as a part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.
Study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, said that the study noted that both the drugs seem to have a synergy when taken together for providing improved beneficial effect on the disease activity as against use of the MS drug in isolation.
The use of a steroid drug, methylprednisolone, in addition to a multiple sclerosis (MS) drug can prove to be a more effective combination for reducing the volume of disease activity than the use of MS drug alone.
This finding was presented as part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 – May 2, 2009.
Study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, remarked that the results suggest that both drugs seem to have a synergy when taken as a combination and offer a more beneficial effect on the disease activity.
The addition of a steroid drug, methylprednisolone, to the multiple sclerosis (MS) drug can significantly reduce the amount of disease activity more than what could have been experienced with the use of MS drug in isolation, as per a presented study as part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.
The study results clearly suggest that the two drugs, steroid and MS, can bring synergy when taken as a combination and provide a greater beneficial effect on the disease activity than MS drug alone, according to study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Centerat Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.
When steroid drugs are added to multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, the risk of disease activity gets reduced to a considerable extent as per a study presented as a part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.
It was remarked by study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, that results of this study highlight the fact that the two drugs tend to bring synergy in a combination and provide an improved beneficial effect on the disease activity as against use of the MS drug in isolation.
The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark conducted a study of adding methylprednisolone in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.
The study involved patients with relapsing-remitting MS and who had the disease for an average of three years. The treatment group received both interferon and methylprednisolone, while the control group received the interferon drug and a placebo. The study lasted for three years and the participants were only seen every three months.
The researchers measured the size of the brain lesions at the initial phase and again after a period of three years. They found that those in the treatment group, their lesions either stayed the same size or it shrunk while the lesions grew in size for those in the control group. The sign of disease activity is measured primarily by the size of the lesion in the brain.
Furthermore, those who received both drugs have fewer incidences of relapses while those receiving interferon only have a 38% higher rate of relapse. In terms of MS disability tests, the treatment group improved slightly higher than the control or placebo group.
These results might be an indication that there is a synergy between the two drugs which can provide more benefits than interferon alone.
According to Science Daily:
“These results indicate that these two drugs may have a synergy when taken together and provide a more beneficial effect on the disease activity,” said study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. “This is a promising finding, as the benefit from interferon is only moderate and not everyone responds fully to the treatment, so anything we can do to boost those results is positive.”
Steroidshelp to reduce inflammation, but University of Illinois scientists suggest they also could be used to reverse a loss of myelin – a major problem in multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases and injuries associated with the central and peripheral nervous systems.
Treatment of MS already includes the use of steroids, because they relieve inflammation and speed remission. However, new findings indicate that the steroids dexamethasone and progesterone actually signal the initiation and dramatically increase the rate of myelin synthesis.
What causes a loss of myelin – demyelination – in MS cases is not known, but is believed to be the result of an abnormal immune response to bacteria and viruses. When myelin fails to form, it jeopardizes nerve communications leading to altered sensations and other complications. Demyelination is a focal point of research around the world.
Pale skinned people and those taking steroids at risk of Vitamin D deficiency
People with pale skin who are prone to sunburn may need to take vitamin D supplements, according to experts.
Interferon, an immune-system protein already used for treating health complications like hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, and a variety of cancers, could be used for granting relief to patients afflicted with asthma.
A factor (protein) in the human eye may prove effective to prevent and halt autoimmune eye disease in animal models besides useful for preventing and treating other autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis and diabetes, as per scientists at the 
Disease activity related with multiple sclerosis (MS) is reduced to a considerable extent when a combination of 
The use of a 
The addition of a 
When steroid drugs are added to multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, the risk of disease activity gets reduced to a considerable extent as per a study presented as a part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.
The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark conducted a study of adding methylprednisolone in the treatment of 