http://www.nationalmssociety.org/pdf/research/Research-2002Dec13.pdf

December 13, 2002

The year of 2002 saw rapid research progress in the fields of science and medicine that impact our understanding of the unpredictable neurological disease of multiple sclerosis. Thanks to its generous contributors, the National MS Society was able to invest over $30 million this year into MS research projects in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2002, the Society initiated 120 new MS research projects. Thus far, the Society has committed more than $18 million to targeted research initiatives including the MS Lesion Project, the Sonya Slifka Longitudinal MS Study, and individual projects exploring genetic aspects of MS and gender differences. We now have some $50 million in current and future commitments to over 300 MS research projects, for which money must be raised.

Significant advances have been made in both clinical and laboratory studies in MS. As the world’s largest private supporter of MS research, the Society has been at the core of many of these advances during 2002. Key highlights include:

• The U.S. FDA approved Rebif® (Serono Inc.), a form of interferon beta-1a, for treating relapsing forms of MS. Rebif had been delayed from entering the market in the U.S. unless “clinical superiority” of Rebif over Avonex could be demonstrated, which the FDA indicated was accomplished in the Rebif EVIDENCE study. There are now five drugs – Avonex, Betaseron, Copaxone, Novantrone and Rebif – approved in the U.S. for treating major forms of MS, but they are only partially effective. The decision of which therapy is best for any individual should be determined with his or her personal physician.

• Cleveland Clinic investigators examined long-standing MS lesions in brain tissue samples for evidence of repair of nerve-insulating myelin. They found indicators that the brain makes major attempts to repair itself, regardless of individuals’ age and type of MS. The appearance and condition of the myelin-making cells suggested that they are unable to complete the final steps toward replacing myelin. These cells may present targets for therapies that can repair myelin damage caused by MS.

• Investigators from the Mayo Clinic reported that a newly discovered protein – myelencephalon-specific protease (MSP) – was dramatically increased in the brain tissue of people with MS, particularly where the myelin coating that insulates nerve fibers was under active attack from the immune system. This study was funded in part by two National MS Society Pilot Research Awards. If further research can confirm the role of MSP, these findings may help develop therapies that block tissue damage in MS.

• National MS Society-supported investigators at Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco reported that the immune protein “osteopontin” may play a critical role in the immune attack in MS and its progression. In mice that were genetically engineered to lack osteopontin, the progression of EAE was inhibited, and the severity of disease reduced. Further research is required to determine the therapeutic possibilities osteopontin presents.

• A study by researchers at the Center for Health Economics Research and the University of California, San Diego indicated that health care expenditures among persons with MS are two to three times higher than those among individuals without MS. The study was supported in part by the Society’s Health Care Delivery and Policy Research Program. The investigators  suggested that these higher expenditure levels needed to be taken into account in the financing of health care for persons with MS.

• Two groups of researchers from the U.S., Austria and Germany announced results suggesting that Lipitor® (atorvastatin) and other “statins,” drugs usually used to lower cholesterol, has immune regulatory effects that can treat experimental animal models of MS. Human clinical trials will be needed to determine whether statins can benefit persons with MS. At least one preliminary clinical trial is under way, and others are planned.

• University of Illinois (Chicago) investigators successfully prevented and improved EAE, an MS-like disease in mice, using oral compounds known as “PPAR-gamma ligands,” some of which are currently used to treat diabetes. This study was supported in part by a research grant from the National MS Society and could lead the way to a new class of agents that might prove useful in treating MS.

• Six new research projects on sex-based differences in immune responses were launched as a result of a first-ever collaboration between the National MS Society and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. The joint venture brings $7.3 million of new funding to support projects with relevance to MS.

• The National MS Society launched three new research programs to speed the search for a cure and enhance its ability to find answers to health policy/services questions pertinent to individuals with MS: The Collaborative MS Research Center awards aim at stimulating creativity and interaction among investigators working within and outside MS fields; Career Transition Fellowships focus on attracting new MS researchers to the field; a new in-house health care policy research program will facilitate quick responses to short-term health services and health policy research questions and needs.

• Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco have been searching for genes that help make people susceptible to developing the autoimmune attack in MS. Early analyses of the genetic makeup of families affected by MS in Spain revealed and confirmed prior possible links to “HLA” genes, which dictate many of the body’s immune responses and are important in autoimmunity and immune system rejection. In another study, the same team found that early manifestations of MS in the optic nerve or spinal cord are shared by family members with MS, indicating that genetics influence the clinical expression of the disease.

© 2002 The National Multiple Sclerosis Society