New treatment 'completely reverses' MS in mice

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a devastating disease in which the body's own immune system attacks the central nervous system, leading to progressive physical and mental disability.

There is at present no cure for the disease, although treatments are available to reduce the symptoms of attacks and repair physical and mental function.

Now a group of scientists from Canada have demonstrated that the disease can be completely reversed in mice.

About the treatment

The new treatment, which is called GIFT15, suppresses the body's immune system, thereby putting the MS into remission. Although there are other treatments that can suppress the immune system, these rely on chemicals. The new approach uses a form of personalized cell therapy which recruits the body's own cells to suppress immunity in a much more localized fashion.

This means it might also be effective against other autoimmune disorders like Crohn's disease, lupus and arthritis, the researchers said, and could theoretically also control immune responses in organ transplant patients.

It works by taking special cells from the mice (B cells) and fusing them with another protein to make GIFT15. Under normal circumstances, the individual proteins usually act to stimulate the immune system, but in their fused form, the equation reverses itself.

Dr. Jacques Galipeau, leader of the study, said: "GIFT15 is a new protein hormone composed of two distinct proteins, and when they're stuck together they lead to a completely unexpected biological effect."

In effect the process turns the B cells into powerful immune suppressing cells. When the converted cells are re-introduced to the mice, the MS goes away.

MS must be caught in its earliest stages, Galipeau cautioned, and clinical studies are needed to test the treatment's efficacy and safety in humans. No significant side-effects showed up in the mice, he said, and the treatment was fully effective with a single dose.

The next step is to test the treatment on humans. The scientist are seeking funding to allow this to happen. The results were published in the journal Nature Medicine.

This article was published on Wed 12 August 2009