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Subscribe to RSSResearchers trying to find a way to treat multiple sclerosis think they’ve come up with an approach that could not only help patients with MS, but those with a range of so-called autoimmune diseases, from type-1 diabetes to psoriasis, and perhaps even food allergies.
So far it’s only worked in mice, but it has worked especially well. And while mice are different from humans in many ways, their immune systems are quite similar.
“If this works, it is going to be absolutely fantastic,” said Bill Heetderks, who directs outside research at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of the National Institutes of Health, which helped pay for the research. “Even if it doesn’t work, it’s going to be another step down the road.”
In autoimmune disease, the body’s immune cells mistakenly attack and destroy healthy tissue. In MS, it’s the fatty protective sheath around the nerves; in type-1 or juvenile diabetes it’s cells in the pancreas that make insulin; in rheumatoid arthritis it’s tissue in the joint.
Currently, the main treatment is to suppress the immune system, an approach that can leave patients vulnerable to infections and cancer. The new treatment re-educates the immune cells so they stop the attacks.
The approach uses tiny little balls called nanoparticles made of the same material used to make surgical sutures that dissolve harmlessly in the body. They’re attached to little bits of the protein that the immune cells are attacking, the researchers report in Sunday’s issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.
Stephen Miller of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago had been trying a slightly different approach to treating MS. When normal cells die naturally through a self-destruction process called apoptosis, immune cells called macrophages come in and eat up the mess.
The macrophages are carried to the spleen where they show these ground-up bits of cells to other immune cells called T-cells. It’s a kind of introduction that familiarizes the T-cells with the body’s normal cells. Then T-cells know not to attack healthy cells.
Miller’s team had been trying to find ways to use this process to re-educate the T-cells. They have been attaching bits of the myelin that T-cells mistakenly attack to healthy cells from MS patients that were self-destructing, then infusing the concoction back into MS patients.
The idea would be to “introduce” the myelin to the T-cells at the same time they were “meeting” the healthy tissue, and educate them to leave the myelin alone.
So far the team has only shown the process is safe – a phase 1 clinical trial. But Miller says the experiment also seemed to show they were beginning to repair the patients’ immune systems. However, it was hideously expensive. “It cost probably about a million dollars to treat 10 patients using live cells,” he said.
Obviously, the researchers needed something cheaper. Miller got together with Lonnie Shea, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern. They substituted cheap little balls of plastic called polystyrene nanoparticles for the self-destructing cells.
These new nanoparticles stopped the course of a MS-like disease in mice, the researchers found. But polystyrene is no good to use in people. It doesn’t break down and contains a compound, styrene, that may cause cancer.
Shea had another possibility, called poly(lactide-co-glycolide) or PLG for short. “It turns out this is an FDA approved substance that is used in resorbable sutures,” said Miller.
“There is nothing rare or exotic or strange here,” said NIBIB’s Heetderks. The particles are easy to produce, he said.
This worked just as well in mice. It only takes an hour in a chemical bath to attach little bits of myelin to the nanoparticles of PLG. When infused into a vein, they’re carried by the blood right to the spleen, where the nanoparticles “meet” the T-cells.
If the treatment was done as soon as the mice had their first MS-like attack, the attacks stopped. The effects lasted for the entire lives of the mice, Miller said.
What’s great about the approach, Miller says, is that it can be used to treat any autoimmune disease. For diabetes, little bits of pancreatic beta cells could be attached to the nanoparticles. For a food allergy, the part of the food that causes the allergic response could be attached. “You can try to induce tolerance to peanuts or eggs or shellfish or whatever you are allergic to,” he said.
One shortcoming is that scientists don’t always know what’s causing an autoimmune disease. “We know that in rheumatoid arthritis, your joints get attacked, but what we don’t know really well is what specific protein in your joints is being attacked. We really need to know that before we can apply this therapy,” Miller said.
Now the researchers are looking for funding so they can test this new approach in people. They’re in discussions with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to test it in people with type-1 diabetes, and the Myelin Repair Foundation to test it in MS patients, Miller said. They may form their own company to develop it as a medical treatment, something that would be years away.
Mice don’t live very long, and it’s not clear if human patients would need repeat treatments. But the T-cells that are re-educated usually live for a long time in the body, and have long memories, Miller said.
It’s also clear the approach would not repair any damage already done by the disease, so the best candidates would be patients having their very first symptoms. But it might be possible down the road to combine the nanoparticle treatment with another treatment to replace the damaged tissue in more advanced patients, Miller said.
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Maggie - I'm very interested in this new science. My Mom recently passed away from GVHD (graft vs. host disease) - complications from a stem cell transplant to beat her leukemia. If a patient's own immune system cannot be sufficiently suppressed, a war breaks out between it and the incoming donor cells. When all else fails, the immune system must be SO suppressed that fatal infection is almost a foregone conclusion. And this is what ended my mom's life.
Is there evidence of this science being used to control the behavior of T-Cells in this context? Is there a way to contact one of the experts involved? Thank you very much.
So sorry for your loss. One is Stephen Douglas Miller PhD (mentioned above), Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine -- contact via Marla Paul (email marla-paul@northwestern.edu)
feinberg.northwestern.edu/news/2011/2011C-October/Peanut_Allergy.html
eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/nu-bnh111312.php
Good news indeed. Now we need to work on doctors' ability to diagnose MS. The article says it works best when administered at the onset but most MS patients seem to suffer for years before they are diagnosed.
They are also discovering that cases of MS are actually late stage lyme disease. They are very hard to tell apart. Step one in diagnosis should be to load them up with antibiotics for about six months and see what happens.
Glen + #'s... I have never heard that MS is related to Lyme Disease! If you are going to make such statements please provide a citation for reference. That is a long stretch! There are aspects of Lyme Disease in its advanced stage that have neurological aspects but there is rarely neurological involvement like there is in MS in the first 6 months of the disease.
MS is thought to sometimes start with an Epstein-Barr virus that causes a break in the blood brain barrier that may or may not lead to MS about 1 year later. That was the case with me. Epstein Barr in 1985 and ataxic walking, balance and eyesight changes in 1986. The eyesight issues were first and shortly after the walking or gait disorder. The MS raged for the first 5 years before it settled into to a quieter but nonetheless progressive pattern.
Wow, this is awesome.....I hate to make a joke but I thought at first they had a cure for MS voters, you know Mississippi residents who vote against their own interests....Like being fiscally conservative while they get per capita some of the most federal tax dollars, whilst putting in the least...
But I guess you can't fix stupid......That being said I commend MS on the personhood vote they had and I know not everyone down home is an idjit...
Wow, this is awesome.....I hate to make a joke but I thought at first they had a cure for MS voters, you know Mississippi residents who vote against their own interests....Like being fiscally conservative while they get per capita some of the most federal tax dollars, whilst putting in the least...
But I guess you can't fix stupid......That being said I commend MS on the personhood vote they had and I know not everyone down home is an idjit...
Lana,
There are cases where people are misdiagnosed with MS when in fact they have late stage Lyme Disease. It is not that they are related however they present very similar to each other and therefore have led to some misdiagnosis.
This chronic lyme disease diagnosis is becoming mildly popular lately, although mostly with the armchair physician crowd. there's not a whole lot of evidence to support it, and its been claimed that chronic lyme disease can mimic any condition from fibromyalgia to MS.
Probably mostly bs in my opinion
Anyway, the hallmark of MS is neurological defects seperated by space and time. Usually certain lesions are seen on MRI, such as optic neuritis. Ive never heard of lyme disease doing that.
@ eric -
I was treated for lyme disease by my (former) physician, when it turns out I actually have rheumatoid arthritis. The symptoms of these medical issues often overlap, so please realize that your opinion here means nothing.
But there are clear clinical signs that point to one diagnosis over the other. If you had never been to connecticut, for example, lyme disease is extremely unlikely
as does yours. Unlike yours, though, my opinion means something in the real world
So, Lyme Disease only occurs in Connecticut? That's one of the dumbest statements I've heard...well, in a couple of weeks. Since the election. Anyway, my ex-mother-in-law has never been to CT and now has chronic lyme disease because she missed the window to be treated by antibiotics after the tick bite that transferred it. (Her tick bite occurred in Eastern NC.) I know of someone else who was treated for FOUR YEARS for RA before it was discovered that what she has is, in fact, lyme disease. Of course, hers is also now chronic. Oh, and she lives in PA. I live in TN and when I got a tick bite this summer, the first thing the doctor did was put me on a round of doxycycline. Seems like a silly thing to do if lyme can only be contracted in CT. And it seems like the doctors around here would know if that were the case, but they were pretty adamant about it due to the high number of tick bites and the "higher than normal occurrence of lyme this year".
Lyme absolutely mimics several autoimmune disorders - MS, RA, Lupus - and it's not always clear which one it is. Even the lyme titer blood results can be falsely negative for a while, which is why my rheumy tested me several times after my RA diagnosis, since my RA is seronegative. Which brings up another similarity - those autoimmune diseases also often don't show up in the bloodwork. I don't have a rheumatoid factor in my blood. My great-aunt has been crippled by RA since I can remember; she finally showed a RF in her bloodwork about 5 years ago. I have almost every symptom of Lupus now, but my ANA panel is negative. That's why the positive blood test is only 1 of the list of 11 criteria, 4 of which are needed to diagnose Lupus.
Autoimmune stuff sucks. And it's weird. Your body thinks it's allergic to itself and it's trying to kill you. For some reason lyme disease mimics that. Do some basic research about it and you'll see that.
Lyme's disease has a nickname as 'the great impersonator' because it has so many overlapping symptoms that correlate to other diseases. You can think its bs if you'd like but any responsible physician will order Lyme's test when they are trying to diagnose MS or other autoimmune issues, and as in my case, they often do. One of the problems is that with tests such as the ELISA test there are so many false negatives that you can't really rely on their results. Lyme's disease can cause tingling in extremities, intolerance to heat, extreme fatigue and even partial paralysis...sounds awfully similar to MS in my opinion. And another issue, why the hostility towards each other? I'm assuming most if not everyone posting on this article is afflicted with some disease, is it so hard to support each other and their opinions or disagree without being disagreeable? If we don't support each other how could you possibly expect anyone else to support you? Cheer up people, you all woke up this morning so its a good day!
Eric,
Please stop making things up as you go along.That is extremely dangerous and I'm going to need a scoop shovel to get your &*@# off of my screen.
I'm really not laughing.As a healthcare professional I'm gravely concerned that someone is going to believe what you wrote and end up permanently disabled due to you telling people if they don't live in Connecticut they probably don't have to worry about Lyme Disease. And I'm concerned someone with MS will delay seeking medical attention or someone who doesn't have it will be terrified,believing they do have because they have neurological symptoms that come and go.
Lyme Disease is relatively common in over half of the U.S. (and parts of Canada.)It is EXTREMELY common in plenty of states other than Connecticut.I have two cousins,both in Missouri,who have had severe enough cases of Lyme Disease to have both been left with residual damage.
The hallmark of multiple sclerosis is the disappearance of the patient's myelin sheaths, or the insulating covers that usually surround nerve fibers.The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation's website has an entire section that outlines the battery of neurological tests done to study whether a patient has MS.The test results that would have to be seen for a neurologist to diagnose multiple sclerosis are also explained on that web site.
In other words MS is diagnosed by evaluating the patient's history,physical assessment,and a series of diagnostic tests which include MRI's and examination of the patient's spinal fluid.
eric, lana...
The goal of the lyme pathogen is to enter the brain of the preferred host: mice.It has been around forever, in the US and Europe, and been verified in mice at least as the year 1900.
It gets to the brain within 1 day to a week in that preferred host.
In humans it does so within weeks to years. Once it breaches the blood brain barrier in a human, it may manifest itself in all the symptoms that Lana describes. Once in the "white" matter not grey of the brain you cannot see it on a regular MRI., I am no armchair doctor Eric. I am a test specimen who suffered, and at one point was a suspected of having MS.
eric - you seem to be under the impression that if you have MS, you must possess every last symptom that MS comes with, same for lyme disease, same for any other disease.
that's just absurd.
while there are SOME things that seperate these diseases, if a person doesnt possess those one thing - how do you know what box to put them in?
Thus the problem of doctors...that seperator isnt always present, known...before many of the other symptoms show up and party.
do us all a solid, and just admit...you're talking out your arse.
Wow, where to begin....
@aubrey
So please quote where I said "only". I said it makes it unlikely. In fact, CDC stats bear this out
http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/chartstables/reportedcases_statelocality.html
You can see that the majority of cases fall in connecticut or the immediate surrounding area--of course realizing that ticks do not respect state lines, and some cases fall outside of connecticut to surrounding states. But cases are rare outside this area.
So far, 0-1
Anecdotes are not fact, nor does your friends story necessarily represent the rule rather than the exception
Antibiotics are really not going to hurt anything, but I don't agree, and there is currently no practice guidelines to presumptively treat for lyme disease in that situation
see above. Im not aware of any practice guidelines or CDC alerts consistent with that statement
I disagree. In the vast majority of cases this is not true. Plus, there are diagnostic tests in order to help differentiate these diagnoses. ANA for lupus, RA factor for RA, MRI for MS, etc. No test is perfect, but its not exactly a crapshoot either
Your IgM should be positive fairly soon--it may take longer for the IgG to be positive
Disagreed, but depends on your definition of often--as a gross number, maybe, but as a percentage I prob disagree. Id have a tough time diagnosing lupus without a positive ANA for example. The reported sensitivity is 80-90% meaning a negative test is a good indicator the disease is not present in the substantial majority of patients
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_antibody
See above. Again, while no blood test is perfect, realize that your case is the exception rather than the rule or even the norm
I think Ive shown rather conclusively that you don't know as much as you think. But if you have basic research supporting even one iota of what you claimed please share it
mkuhn,
So does syphilis. Doesn't mean its high on the differential of every case of autoimmune disease
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis
Actually, Ive ordered an RPR more than any test for lyme disease. But of course you can order a test, no matter if the probability of that test being positive is 90% or 1%
Its really not
kc,
There's really no need for that. It serves no purpose except to make you seem childish and immature. Im more than happy to have a discussion, and you may even change my mind, but not with that kind of attitude.
No one is joking.
Unless you are a physician, you shouldn't be dispensing health care advice anyway, so your concerns aren't valid
See the CDC stats from above. The vast majority of lyme disease is in connecticut and the immediate surrounding area
NOw the problem here is you have frankly shown you have no idea what you are talking about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis
Between attacks, symptoms may go away completely, but permanent neurological problems often occur, especially as the disease advances
So again, the diagnosis is made from relapsing symptoms typically. OF course, as the disease progresses, symptoms may and usually persist. I wasn't very clear that I meant diagnosis, but since that was the topic at hand, it can and should easily be implied
No, its not. See the CDC link above
Im glad you can copy and paste, but do you understand that?
Please quote where I disagreed with that. thanks.
Glen,
Disagreed. Do you have a source?
Um...so you don't even have it? So your only source of knowledge is at one time some doc had it on his differential?
Not very substantial, im afraid
Jessica,
Why don't you actually stick to what I said instead of guessing at what you think I may have probably meant.
There is really nothing in your post worth replying to.
Eric, are you a rheumatologist? I mean, are you in the practice of diagnosing Lupus? Or Lyme's? Or RA or MS or any of these other diseases? Your statement "Id have a tough time diagnosing lupus without a positive ANA" would lead some to believe that, but your "research" makes me terrified for any patients that would see you if you are, in fact, a doctor. I wasn't aware that Wikipedia handed out medical degrees.
Have I researched this? Of course I have. I've lived it for more than 4 years now and I always get all the information I can about any enemy I'm fighting. Knowledge is power and when you're fighting for your life, you need all the power you can get. And when you're stuck at home, having flare days like today, flat on your back because that disease that isn't showing up in your blood is attacking your spine and SI joints, you have plenty of time to get the necessary knowledge. Go do some reading on www.rawarrior.com. Kelly Young is the leading source of information about RA on the web now. I also consider her a friend. Her site will give you the facts of the high numbers of RA patients, like me and my aunt, that don't have a rheumatoid factor in their blood, that don't have an elevated CRP or SED rate. I have multiple friends in the online community living with Lupus. When I started developing symptoms, who do you think I turned to for information? Wikipedia or the people living it? They shared their experiences and pointed me to thelupussite.com and lupus.org.
Do NOT try to dissect my argument and act as if you know more about the disease that I have lived with and fought every day for this long, and will continue to fight for the rest of my life, than I do.
BTW, if by some chance you are a rheumatologist, please tell me where you live so I can do everything in my power to avoid your practice.
Aubrey, are you?
Are you? Even if I told you I was, you would immediately label me a liar, so whats the point of asking the question?
So many physicians tell patients to research things online. I think wiki is a much better source FOR PATIENTS than most other sites on the web
If I actually thought you were a professional, I would refer you to pubmed. But frankly, it would be over your head.
You are the definition of an armchair physician. You spend a couple hours, even a few days or months on the internet and now you fancy yourself an expert. Guess what: youre not. It takes much more than that kind of "research".
Im sorry you have such debilitating symptoms. I really am. But it does not make you an expert in the field. Neither does posting on forums with similiar people
My facts remained unchallenged. If you dispute them, by all means, feel free to post evidence to the contrary
Haha..not a chance. But you should be aware most rheumatologists also feel that chronic lyme disease does not exist nor warrant treatment.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDisease/22000
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/resources/ld_internet.pdf
Regarding the OP's question regarding GVHD (graft versus host disease) it is unlikely this research would yield any benefits for GVHD for a long time to come. The researchers per this article seem to have only tried out this procedure with single proteins. Who knows if this works or is possible with a complete cell. In any case this was a phase 1 trial which test for safety. Until trials are done for effectiveness it is unlikely the researchers would attempt to challenge GVHD which just seems much more complicated. Hopefully, this treatment will work and the impetus will be there to extend the research to more complex scenarios.
Sure Eric. I can give you enough references and docs to keep you busy for months.
Best for you to start at basic 101...Columbia University is 5 to 10 years ahead of the CDC or the New England Journal of medicine when it comes to Lyme Disease.
Happy reading and take care.
-Glen
Go to this link and follow. If you read for less than 2 days and get less than a dozen pdf papers on the subject, you have not even scratched the surface. It will cost you several hundred to about $1500 to subscribe to the various medical journals on line (I did in 2008 after suffering for 2 years)
http://columbia-lyme.org/patients/ld_spinal_fluid.html
and for those of you who do not believe in Chronic lyme, start here scratching the surface:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.410410313/abstract
If you want more you have to subscribe Eric. You read the research articles and experiments and you will wonder what planet the CDC is on.
Not true
Took "basic 101" in college. Im sure that can't compete with your degree in internet chat rooms though
Um, no it won't. I have institutional access through my hospital.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.410410313/abstract
Im skipping the for patients article on spinal fluids. Ive done more than my fair share of LPs, and am not going to learn anything from that site
As for your article on mononeuritis multiplex in monkeys with chronic lyme disease, this is very interesting. It is certainly a syndrome I never associated with lyme disease. Your next assignment is to find examples of this in humans, with some link/proof of association with lyme disease, such as proving cross reactivity with borrelia antigens.
But not bad.
Skipping an article and saying "I cannot learn anymore" is not the hallmark of a researcher or anyone
in the engineering or research fields.
As a matter of fact, it is a devastating attitude. You are certainly no researcher.
I pointed you to that article because it also has links to SPECT and MRI which so so adamantly demanded.
That monkey paper is old and well established among lyme Research, Eric.
Goodbye.
I mean, you posted an article that was written for patients undergoing LPs. Its written in the simplest terms. Any doctor would tell you the same thing I did. An english teacher is not going to learn much from an introductory paper on the proper use of pronouns. I cannot make it easier for you to understand.
Then post those links. Im not going to follow a trail of breadcrumbs. If you want me to read a particular article, then post that article, not papers that link that article
When did I dispute that?
You need to calm down
OMG! I am literally in tears reading this. I have been fighting severe RA for over 4 years now. It's taken my ability to work and has completely changed my life. I know that it's more complicated for RA and Lupus but...it's out there. This could be it. This is just SO exciting to anyone that has an autoimmune disease, especially the last part - "But it might be possible down the road to combine the nanoparticle treatment with another treatment to replace the damaged tissue in more advanced patients, Miller said." I didn't think that would EVER be possible in my lifetime.
I am in tears as well. My 27 year old son has had type 1 diabetes for nearly 20 years. I hope this happens soon (tomorrow :). The only thing I want in this life is for him to be healthy and happy. I'm sure all parents feel this way and those with autoimmune diseases should all be healthy and well as they've tolerated so much for so long. YEAH! Thank you to all those who tirelessly work to find cures for all our loved ones.
This is very hopeful research. I lost my mom to MS in 1998. It is a horriable to disease to watch your loved one TRY to live with. Then in 2010 my son 27 at the time got diagnosed with MS. I hope this research can help him and all who suffer from autoimmune diseases. Stay strong!
Aubrey and CBL,
Please don't get too excited just yet. This is just initial research with Mice and treatment in humans, if it does show promise for humans, could be many years off. I too am excited for this news because my SIL has MS and my oldest son has elevated levels of a specific antibody. This antibody has not manifested into anything as of yet, but we live in fear that it could turn into something very bad. Let's all hope these researchers are on their way to solving this riddle and being able to treat humans soon.
CBL, you'd do better pursuing a pancreatic transplant for your son. The research has shown transplanting the islets of Langerhans are very successful in treating patients with Type I disease. Good luck.
b cell transplants are not ready for prime time just yet
I have RA as well and lost my ability to work, but if you aren't doing this already I suggest speaking with your doctor. I get Remicade every 7 weeks and participate in aqua therapy in a swimming pool at our hospital. Since doing these two things I have not needed a cane and can walk up steps without help (am in my 40s). It is amazing the difference it makes.
Kristina, my original rheumy started me on Remicade immediately after my diagnosis. After 8 months with no relief and lots of unwanted side effects, she switched me to Orencia. After two months of that, she told me no more TNF-inhibitors because it caused such severe flare-ups of mouth ulcers, despite suppressant therapies that I couldn't eat. She and an infectious disease doctor agreed that there was a risk with TNF-inhibitors of those ulcers traveling to the brain, proving fatal. Fast forward to me going out of work, moving to TN, divorcing, going on Medicaid, and being stuck with possibly the world's worst rheumy. I had to fight for 18 months before he agreed to put me on a biologic (all while my fingers and toes started showing visible signs of damage). He acted like I was crazy when I told him what my previous doctor said about TNF-inhibitors and insisted that I try Humira. I agreed thinking that if it caused the same problems, it's only a two week cycle and I can stop it immediately. I did okay for a few months, though I couldn't stay on it consistently because I kept getting infections. I went off of it and methotrexate for 3 months for multiple reasons over the summer and when I took my first shot of Humira in September, I got 4 mouth ulcers the next day. So...no more TNF-inhibitors for me. Oh, and during those 3 months without the mtx shots, I started developing symptoms of Lupus. Lovely. :(
Thankfully, my Medicare just kicked in this month and my PCP is looking for a new rheumy (she hates mine about as much as I do). I know my treatment options are more limited since almost all of the biologics are TNF-inhibitors, but with the newest drug approved by the FDA, I think that leaves me 4 options now. And one of them doesn't even involve needles! :) I'm praying that a new doctor and a new treatment plan will finally be able to turn things around. I'm a single mom and those 3 little ones need me to be able to do more than I can right now.
I'm so glad Remicade is working for you! It always makes me happy to see and hear about biologics helping people with RA. My great-aunt has had it since the 70's. She's done everything from the gold shots to Enbrel, which she's doing very well on now. So, I've seen the effects of it and I've watched the progression of the treatments. It just thrills my heart to hear stories like yours! :)
Aubrey-Ask your new rheumatologist about trying Kineret. It inhibits IL-1 rather than TNF and is effective in some patients who do not respond to the TNF inhibiting therapies. Good luck to you!
I could use a new set of lungs...Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency
My grandmother had that, as does my father. While my grandmother succumbed to it at 46, my father has managed to surpass the doctors' predictions by 15+ years. Although now, it looks like his number may be finally up. He's been in the hospital 5 times in the last year for a collapsed lung, he is on oxygen 24/7, and has less than 15% lung capacity remaining.
Unfortunately, this research will not be much help for either you or my father, since alpha 1 antitripsin is genetic, not autoimmune.
Suffer from Ankylosing Spondylitis and this is great news. So tired of trying to keep on a happy face every day and living in constant pain. Pain that wakes you from sleep. Oh, I do hope this works better than what I use now. I have a life back thanks to some treatments, but I do get tired of daily pain. As well as the many who fight these awful type of diseases on a daily basis, too.
Good luck to us all!
My father has MS and my sister's fiance has AS. I watch them suffer every day. This would be an absolute miracle. Good luck to you.
To the author: can you provide links to the murine studies? Why don't these articles ever site the source papers?
Celiac disease here, while I'm controlled and not having to deal with the issues so many others do who have autoimmune diseases, I would sure like to put this behind me.
Dealing with RA since early spring 2010, already have severely damaged hip joints, was told by rheumatologist last week that I'll be needing double hip replacements as he said both are "very bad." Didn't allude to a date, just that it's coming soon, said that inflammation has to be dealt with first. Had started new medicine last month (leflunomide) generic for arava. Scary, miserable side affects. But he INSISTS that I continue to take it. No options for another specialist where I live - he's the only game in town.
Also, have first appointment with neurologist next month as I have many of the symptoms for MS. I sincerely hope that this may be a viable option in the near future for many autoimmune conditions. Will watch for updates. (note) "National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering" to follow up on this new data.
useyurnoggin - are you taking any other medication besides Arava? There are many new biologicals that you may benefit from. Most are covered by insurance - infusion and self-inject. Arava has been around for a long time, and altho it does work on the symptoms, but doesn't stop the progression of the joint damage. Not sure where you live, but you may need to look into traveling for a rhumatologist and get a second opinion. We travel an hour from home to see one - and would go much further if needed to get proper treatment. Good luck to you! :)
I have the same question as "questions?" - did your rheumy not start you on a biologic along with the arava? Normal course of treatment, especially in a severe case that already shows such damage, would include both a DMARD (arava, plaquenil, or methotrexate, which I take) to try to "modify the disease", ie. shut down the immune system that's trying to kill you, and a biologic to try to modify the behavior of certain individual cells in the immune system. (I had erosion points on my hips and OA throughout almost all of my joints on diagnosis and I was immediately started on prednisone, methotrexate, and Remicade.) Then, of course, there's the steroids and NSAID's for inflammation/pain, narcotics for pain, phenergan to keep us from throwing our guts up after the chemo shots every week, vitamins and supplements to combat the side effects of the meds/poisons we're pumping into ourselves, etc. Who'd have thought "arthritis" could be so complicated/painful/life-altering?
Hoping this will come to pass as my daughter has RA and is 33. A cure or at least a treatment is needed. Great news! Hope it doesn't take as long as they are saying for the testing phase to be completed. Her disease was in remission for several years and re-occurred within the past two years.
I am my Mother's primary care giver. She was diagnosed with MS since 1986. She is now completely bedridden. I fear that any cure that is found will be too late for her. But I do dope that a cure is found so that others do not have to suffer the way my Mother has.
I volunteer to be one of the lab mice. I'll even wear a furry suit.
Wonder if (down the road) it would work on Crohn's Disease...steroids are no fun to take.
From your mouth to the Goddesses ears. I'd like my life back.
I've had Myasthenia Gravis for about 5 years and have been on long-term heavy duty immuno-suppressant drugs for about four years, plus having to do plasma pheresis every week (am now on a cancer drug, Rituxan, every 8 weeks, with decent results). 100K a patient isn't really all that expensive if it's a cure! And it sounds like with the newer technology it would be even less. Plasma pheresis costs about 25K a month, so this would be a lot cheaper in the long run. A cure would be amazing, especially since with the more rare autoimmune disorders hardly anyone is even doing any research. And it seems like most of the research is only looking at treatments, not cures, so this really would be incredible. And to get off of the drugs would be really great, as I fear that I'm going to end up with cancer or get a serious infection one of these days, and the drugs make me so tired that it's increasing difficult to work.
Please, someone with a lot of money, fund the human subject trials so we can quickly find out if this works and if it does make it widely available as soon as possible!!! This would save and/or change so many lives!
This is awesome news!!!It could save my sister's life!
What does it take to get this research fully funded?
Might want to talk to the guy who hosted the annual MS marathon on TV for what, 30,40 years? He got rich and there was very little money left over for research.
The annual telethon is for MD, Muscular Dystrophy, genius. Jerry Lewis has worked his @$$ off for that charity for decades.
If you don't know the truth, don't sling mud. It's evil.
@Anne-394054: What gopher hole have you been living in for the last 45 years?? Really! Hard to believe that you have no idea who Jerry Lewis is. Agree with Peridot-1693859. If you have no idea what you're talking about, better to not talk at all.
This is great news but I think it probably would need to be admistered with anti-rejection drugs - we'll see. I am just coming out of an MS attack and have 10-20 new lesions using a 3 Tesla MRI. I agree with 'Disturbed Librarian' that better diagnostic protocol must be implemented. Using a 3 Tesla MRI should be a first line option rather than the standard 1.5 Tesla MRI. As for the suppressing of the immune system - tomorrow I will have an ultrasound to rule out breast cancer. Hopefully I will persevere in spite of this. So on the one hand there is hope and the other fear. That's life with MS. This will be a miracle. It is a credit to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society which funds research of this kind that this research was done at all. A cure for MS - that would be life changing!!!
I lost my sister in law 3 years ago to an autoimmune disease. Just this morning I said "I wish Kathy was here to see this, she'd have laughed her a** off." Now I'm reading this and crying. I really wish she could have laughed with me this morning.
I am imagining combination treatment for people with multiple ongoing autoimmune disorders. Of course, cutting edge medicine gives hope to those who suffer and all who care for them. I do not want to rain on anyone's parade, but we're talking big money here, and many people who could benefit from the technology will likely not be able to afford it.
I am in agreement with "Disturbed Librarian". I was unable to see a neurologist for the past ten years, because the county medical plan (which only 10% of those in need in this county can actually get) is not accepted by any specialists other than the local heart doctors. In that time, 6 different primary care providers told me that my symptoms "probably" added up to classical MS, however about 30 years older than the age of normal onset. I have Medicaid now, and 2 neurologists. So far, epilepsy and diabetes-related seizure activity have been ruled out. I have the typical widespread white patches in my brain, per MRI. I've been told that that's no absolute basis for MS diagnosis; it could be something else. So no firm diagnosis, other than Type 2 Diabetes.
I used to have a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, but going gluten-free seems to have REVERSED that disorder. It's pretty clear that I have some totally confused T-cells!
I applaud the "out of the box" thinking of the researchers.
FDA and NIH and CDER all the same. All involved in RESEARCH and MEDICARE and Medicaid and tracking people after inflicting horrible results on them.
@sunnytoo-754501: I worked for NIH, an organization that employs lots of great people who are dedicated to finding cures or treatments for diseases that YOU have or might have. Oh... maybe you are one of those superhumans who never gets sick. Or, you will become ill but shun medical care and die alone in your cave. Get a life.
Great News! Keep up the good work.
This would also be a boon for anyone receiving an organ transplant. Educate the immune system not to attack the received organ instead of administering anti-rejection drugs.
thats a very interesting thought...
I noticed that they said it would take years to develop. Sincerely hope they are successful. Hey they found osteoarthritis in dinosaurs, what is a few more years to find a cure. But there so many people suffering out there, lets hope the government fast tracks this potential blockbuster treatment to see if it can do what the doctors believe it may be able to do.
maybe if most MS cases didn't live near Pu dumps and Superfund sites and stop getting Gadolinium metal contrast injections for the magnets in the MRI's , which btw has an FDA gov BLACKBOX warning and they raddocs, etal, know this, too and maybe some INFORMED CONSENT and appropriate Vit D levels and stop bad science, medicine with nanotechnology and biomolecular manipulations that further harm people. Sounds like we need another advisory committee and investigation re this experiment.
this is utter nonsense
Please find me one case of MS being linked to gadolinium. It occurs in people who have never had an MRI before--explain that one.
Yes, not to give it to patients with CKD because they may develop NIF. It has never been shown to have any ill effects in people with normal renal function
That's a load of malarky there Sunnytoo. I was diagnosed 10 years ago at the age of 22 with MS. And I certainly never lived near any Pu dumps or Superfund sites, and I had never had any MRI's before that. I'm not doubting its possible that exposure to substances could cause MS, but I would hardly say that "most" cases live near these sites.
Troll
This is for Lana.
I had an MRI in my brain last yr and they found lesions. The quick diagnosis was it could be either Lyme disease or MS. I think at this point they are thinking early on set ahlzimers. One way or the other this would be great. As I also have RA. Funny thing is I was athletic my entire life. I ate right took care of myself went into SF in the military. and several years ago my body just quit on me. The only thing I have been able to count on when I needed it! I can barely see, my mind and memory are shot and it takes everything I have to walk a block without falling over.
Two auto-immune diseases have totally changed my life. I would be thrilled to help test this, even if it just stopped the progression of the damage.
My best friend died from MS 10 years ago. My daughter has fibromyalgia and is in contant pain. She's a R.N. and it's amazing how ignorant medical people are about this disease. Yes, she looks fine on the outside but is suffering inside. Some mornings she can barely stand when she gets out of bed because it's now affecting her feet. Fibromyalgia suppresses the immune system so I pray the time will soon come when she and others with it will have either a cure or medication to take away the pain. I pray the same for those with MS and other autoimmune diseases.
Joan, My best friend has fibro. The specialist wanted to put her on one of the current drugs but she was afraid of the side effects. Her primary doc said " before you go that route, please try to get your vitamin d levels up and see what happens". Before taking the d she had to use her arms to get up from her desk and she had to wear flat shoes instead of heels. After getting her levels high enough she has NO pain and wears heels again. Dont fall for the standart guidelines for d levels.......... the 25 hydroxy test should be in the 75-100 range for diseases. Hope this helps.
There are so many autoimmune deseases that this research is priceless! People die from complications of these illnesses all the time. If this turns out to be a success it could lead to practically eliminating deaths caused by diseases like Lupus. Even rheumatoid arthritis can be deadly. I have it and besides all the pain in my joints, the antibodies have begun to turn on my lungs causing the lining to swell. At least that's how it was explained to me by my rheumatologist. This caused me to be hospitalized with a severe case of pneumonia that just wouldn't go away. I am in dread of this happening again. A discovery like this might come to late for some of us, but our children and grandchildren will have a better chance.