MDNews - Cleveland-Akron-Canton

Targeting Gray Matter More Effective in Delaying Progression of MS R EGARDLESS OF AGE, the cerebral cortex retains the ability to produce cells that replace damaged myelin, according to researchers at Cleveland Clinic���s Lerner Research Institute. These studies suggest that the cortex ��� or gray matter ��� may be a better location for testing new therapies designed to enhance remyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS). MS has long been viewed as a disease of the brain���s white matter, where immune cells destroy the myelin or insulation that surrounds the fibers that connect nerve cells. In early stages of the disease, the white matter can produce new cells that replace the destroyed myelin. As MS patients age, however, this repair capacity is lost. ���We know that the brains of MS patients can repair lesions in the white 6 | Cleveland/Akron/Canton MD News matter, but this repair process fails with age,��� said Bruce Trapp, PhD, Chairman of Neurosciences at Cleveland Clinic. ���What we found is that gray matter lesions continuously replace myelin, regardless of the patient���s age.��� Understanding the mechanisms of successful or unsuccessful remyelination can lead to new therapies, which will increase myelin repair and delay the progression of disability in patients with this disease. In a st udy, recent ly published online in The Annals of Neurology, resea rchers at Clevela nd Clinic���s Lerner Research Institute studied postmortem brain tissue in 22 patients (aged 27-77) with MS and examined lesions in white and gray matter. Their findings showed a generation of brain cells that produced myelin was greater ��� MDNEWS.COM ��� JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2013 in gray matter lesions. The remyelination in gray matter occurred regardless of disease duration or patient age. Lastly, they found the white matter had more reactive molecules that are known to inhibit remyelination. In the United States today, there are approximately 400,000 people with multiple sclerosis ��� with 200 more people diagnosed every week. Worldwide, MS is thought to affect more than 2.1 million people, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This work was supported by The National Institutes of Health, The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and The National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Dr. Trapp���s research won the MS Society���s 2009 Stephen C. Reingold Award, as the highest ranked research proposal. ���

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