Published Wednesday, July 20, 2016 in the scientific journal Brain, the work of researchers from INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) brings real hope to people with multiple sclerosis. They have indeed found an antibody-medicine, which, tested on mice, gives results that lead to optimism. They would greatly slow down or even block the progression of this neurological disease which affects one person in a thousand.
Multiple sclerosis is a so-called autoimmune disease because the body's defense system turns against its own cells and attacks them, for reasons that are still poorly understood. The symptoms are varied:balance and vision disorders, numbness, feelings of electric shocks, etc. This disease represents the leading cause of severe non-traumatic disability in young adults:in fact, the average age of onset of symptoms is 30 years old. In France, the number of people affected is estimated at 80,000, or one person in 1,000, with more women than men. And until today, no treatment had succeeded in stopping the process of development of the disease.
The disease is characterized by inflammatory reactions which lead in places to the destruction of myelin, the sheath which surrounds and protects the fibers and which ensures the proper transmission of messages or nerve impulses. The immune system of people with multiple sclerosis destroys myelin considering it foreign to the body. This explains why, in certain places of the nervous system, the impulses are slower or completely blocked, and generate the various symptoms. Apart from the outbreaks, the inflammation disappears and the myelin partly reforms around the fibers, which leads to a partial or complete regression of the symptoms. However, in cases of regular or constant demyelination, neurons can be permanently destroyed, leading to permanent disability.
The antibody found, called Glunomab, could be effective against multiple sclerosis, at least as a brake on its progression. As Fabien Docagne, one of the authors of the study and researcher at INSERM, explains:“This drug has shown significant efficacy in a mouse that has something similar to multiple sclerosis. When we give her this medicine, she gets better. The progression of the disease is prevented and the mice do not have paralysis of the rear end. This treatment did not show any side effects in animals. Under these conditions, given its effectiveness, it is hoped that one day this target can become a treatment for humans. “Because for the moment, the antibody-drug has not yet been tested on humans, and the tests remain experimental. Although a patent has already been filed, the research lacks funding and is actively seeking an industrial partner to raise funds and continue to develop this lead, which, if it materializes, should unfortunately not arrive on the market at all. immediately:"Between a result like this and the marketing of a drug, it generally takes more than ten years “, recalls Pierre-Olivier Couraud, the vice-president of Arsep (Foundation for the assistance of research on multiple sclerosis)
Despite everything, it is a beautiful glimmer of hope for people affected by this poorly understood disease that is multiple sclerosis.
